My Life Verse

Selecting a favorite verse in Scripture is like asking me to choose my favorite child (or so I'm told). But a few years ago I adopted a verse as my "life verse," the verse that I see as the theme of my life.

In John 10:10, Jesus says, "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full."

When I first read this verse, I thought Jesus meant that He came to give us eternal life. And praise God, that is part of it. But that's not all. Not only did He come to bring eternal salvation, but also an abundant life right here, right now.

Wow! That blows my mind sometimes. As if going to Heaven for all eternity wasn't an incredible enough gift of life, Jesus goes a step further by promising life now.

I've come to realize that the life that Jesus brings isn't without risks. Think about when you've felt most alive. Chances are, it's when you've taken some sort of risk, whether physical danger or an emotional risk.

For me, living an abundant life to the full is risky. It means loving people wholeheartedly, really putting other's needs and desires ahead of my own, showing patience with someone who's really trying mine. I could curl up in a ball and nest away into a cocoon, protecting myself from getting hurt or disappointed or experiencing failure. But that's not really living, not the way I want to live. I know far too many people who are breathing but aren't living.

I have to remember the first part of the verse, too--the thief (Satan) is aiming to steal the joy, the peace, the life that I experience in Christ. I have to be on guard against his schemes. He knows he's lost the war, he can't touch me in Heaven, so he concentrates on destroying my life here on Earth. Because I'm a child of God, I can have a rich, abundant life here, because Jesus said so. I hold on to that, especially on days where I feel deprived or bereft of meaning or purpose or joy. That's Satan at work.

Having life to the full brings love, joy, peace, purpose--all those things that people search for and try desperately to get on their own. Only Christ can bring it fully. No matter what happens in my life, when I come to the end of it, I want to be able to say that I truly lived, truly loved, truly experienced a deep, meaningful life. For me, there's no other way to live.