John 10:10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.
Jesus came to give life. Not just the ability to breathe, move around, make choices, work, build families/ empires, and all else we engage with in life. He came to give life, real, abundant, vibrant, eternal, spirit-filled life!
The question is, what kind of life are you living?
There are three options as to how you can live life:
Option one, as Frank Sinatra sang, I did my way. You can live life your way, exactly how you like it and want it. You can, as much as you can control and can afford, live according to your own desires, fleshly impulses, and particular design. You can live how you feel, do what you want, and make your life your own with no other input from anyone.
Option two, a common pitfall for many, is to live your life according to what others want or what you perceive they want for you. Some of us can be influenced and even controlled by what others do, say, think or perceive they desire for us. People pleasing and the fear of man is a snare to living real life. The saying goes, if we live by people’s praise, we will die by their criticism.
Option three, we live God’s way and live according to His intended desire, purpose and plan for our lives. A creator of a item will know what that creation was designed for. God has bespoke designed each human who walks and has walked this earth. Logic suggests that as He is our creator, He knows exactly how, where, when, and why we should live.
Our identity is not found in what we can come up with for ourselves or what others want for us. But our identity, security, acceptance, purpose, healing, wholeness, purity, forgiveness and real true life is found only in our creator God, our Saviour Jesus Christ.
Yes, God has given us unique personalities, differences, drives, likes and dislikes, which are all incredibly special and beautiful. Ultimately, it is only He who knows what we are destined to do in life, only He who knows what legacy we are to live and leave, and only He who gives us the grace to live abundantly according to His extravagant design. Our plans for our life and others’ plans for us will only ever be second best to what God had planned and set out for us.
Don’t settle for anything less than what God has for you! As you seek Him with all your heart, He will lead you, and He will open up the doors for you to walk through. Don’t sit at closed doors, but trust His leading, plan and purpose. As you spend time with Him, He will reveal His word and way for you. Option three is where you will find the most exhilarating, passionate, fulfilling life; it is the safest place for you to be, in the centre of His will.
Heavenly Father, thank You that Jesus gave His life for us so that we may not die but have everlasting life. Lord, there is so much more You have for us. Help us not to get sidetracked by our own fleshly desires or others’ wants for us, but help us seek first Your Kingdom, Your will, and Your way. I want to live life with You and for You only! Amen.