Probably one of my favorite statements from Jesus is this: "the thief comes only to steal, kill, and destroy. But I come to give you life and to give it abundantly." (John 10:10)
This is one of the MANY (and worst) things the church of the last 2000 years has left to the wayside. Jesus' punchline, his proclamation is that he came to give us each extraordinary, cup-running over, unexpectedly good life.
Yet we operate as though the goal of Christianity is to live less fully, to chastise ourselves and others more, to become so pristine that judgement could not touch us.
But Jesus himself didn't live that way. He was a get around town and make life good kind of guy. He was joy-filled when a thief gave back more than he stole. Make no mistake, the guy didn't give away everything he owned to serve the third world poor, he just made right on his previous theft from people with a little sauce on top.
And then there was the time Jesus made sure there were 6 barrels of wine to keep a party going...no way to misconstrue it, they had already drunk ALL the wine at the party. And there was that thing about feeding droves of people until they were full just so they didn't have to go in search of food. They weren't starving or helpless...he just chose to bless them.
And there it is, just like he said. Jesus chooses to bless us. To give us life beyond our expectations. Why do we continually expect less? Why don't we, Christians, expect and then practice sharing that more?
Partake in abundance and bless somebody. Share Jesus.
This is one of the MANY (and worst) things the church of the last 2000 years has left to the wayside. Jesus' punchline, his proclamation is that he came to give us each extraordinary, cup-running over, unexpectedly good life.
Yet we operate as though the goal of Christianity is to live less fully, to chastise ourselves and others more, to become so pristine that judgement could not touch us.
But Jesus himself didn't live that way. He was a get around town and make life good kind of guy. He was joy-filled when a thief gave back more than he stole. Make no mistake, the guy didn't give away everything he owned to serve the third world poor, he just made right on his previous theft from people with a little sauce on top.
And then there was the time Jesus made sure there were 6 barrels of wine to keep a party going...no way to misconstrue it, they had already drunk ALL the wine at the party. And there was that thing about feeding droves of people until they were full just so they didn't have to go in search of food. They weren't starving or helpless...he just chose to bless them.
And there it is, just like he said. Jesus chooses to bless us. To give us life beyond our expectations. Why do we continually expect less? Why don't we, Christians, expect and then practice sharing that more?
Partake in abundance and bless somebody. Share Jesus.