I HAVE COME THAT THEY MAY HAVE LIFE …. TO THE FULL.
JOHN 10:10 NIV
Deep inside us God has planted a desire to want to do something special with our lives. We don’t just want to be average and go through life invisibly; we want to find that special ‘something’ that He put us here for. Jesus’ disciples were no different, so what advice did He give them? ‘Unless a grain of wheat is buried in the ground dead to the world, it is never anymore than a grain of wheat. But if it is buried, it sprouts and reproduces itself many times over. In the same way, anyone who holds on to life just as it is destroys that life. But if you let it go, reckless in your love, you will have it forever, real and eternal’ (John 12:24-25 TM). That is not the world’s way to get ahead, is it? Paul also knew that ‘death to the flesh’ was so crucial to the Christian life that it became the cry of his heart: Listen, ‘I gave up all that inferior stuff so I could know Christ personally, experience His resurrection power, be a partner in his suffering and go all the way with Him’ (Philippians 3:10 TM). Paul takes his lead straight from JC; he wants to reach the place where the only thing that matters is what God wants! It’s the exact opposite of all your natural instincts. ‘How will I know when I have died to self?’ you ask. Because your desires, your pride and your independence won’t matter any more. You can criticise a dead man and he’s not affected by it. That’s because he has moved to a higher dimension!
