by Pastor Afolabi Oladele

I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly (John 10:10b (KJV).

My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life (John 10:10b (NLT).

My purpose is to give life in all its fullness (John 10:10b (TLB).

How do you read this?

How you read, understand and act on this will determine where you end up, in the life spoken to or in hell! Let me put it differently; whose definition of abundant, rich and fulfilling life have you taken? If anything is clear, the giver of this life is the Lord God of heaven, yet times of this life have made clear to us as people in this world or as members of the body of Christ, called the church, that you are either live according to:

• God’s definition; or the
• World’s definition.

And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God; I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked: I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see (Revelation 3:14-18).

Revelation 3:14-18 (KJV/NLT) makes clear what definition counts. If your take of abundant life gets you to the point of being independent of God you are in error and need to repent and return to what’s God definition. The Psalmist saw this conundrum and wrote expressly in Psalm 119:33-40 (NLT).

Teach me your decrees, O Lord;
    I will keep them to the end.
Give me understanding and I will obey your instructions;
    I will put them into practice with all my heart.
Make me walk along the path of your commands,
    for that is where my happiness is found.
Give me an eagerness for your laws
    rather than a love for money!
Turn my eyes from worthless things,
    and give me life through your word.^[a]
Reassure me of your promise,
    made to those who fear you.
Help me abandon my shameful ways;
    for your regulations are good.
I long to obey your commandments!
    Renew my life with your goodness (Psalm 119:33-40 NLT).

May you choose rightly today and focus on what truly is life abundant.

Photo by Brendan Church on Unsplash