JESUS GIVES LIFE

Jesus came that we might have life, and have it more abundantly. What does this mean?

The Rev. Tim McConnell noted: “I believe Jesus meant that to have this “full” life, this abundant life, is to live so close to him that we become one with him. Paul speaks of this imitation of Christ in the letter to the Philippians.

We need to adopt the attitude Jesus has: Empty ourselves of ourselves, become slaves to Christ and servants of each other, humble and obedient. It means getting to the point where we take our hands completely off our lives. Not even a finger is left on any activity or thought; all is surrendered to the control of Jesus. We begin to imitate Christ in our thoughts, actions, words and opinions of others. We realize that we don’t need more “things” in our lives; instead, we make do with what we have so that we have more to share with others. Prayer and the study of scripture become top priority.

This abundant life that Jesus died to give us causes us to want to share the good news with others. So we want to talk “Jesus” to those who will listen. This change of lifestyle is made possible by the activity of the Holy Spirit, who gives us a new spirit which is in tune with God’s purpose for us.”

Fantastic stuff. Yesterday I wrote about TV watching. How can we imitate Christ in that? If He did watch TV, Jesus would only watch things that would never interfere with His helping of others. He would watch with pure eyes so that the Holy Spirit would be right there filling Him so that He could help those who he needed to help.

When we imitate Christ in our thoughts and actions, we begin to live the abundant life. A life that can change the world, and a life that begins to be filled with joy.

 

Mr Green noted the following: “The love that Jesus places in our hearts is a love that needs to become bigger and bigger. It needs to be shared. One cannot be self-centered and expect to grow in his relationship with God. The gift of love that we have been given needs to take root in our hearts and grow. This can only happen when our hearts and minds are brought to a love that is bigger than ourselves. This love is present in the relationship between the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.”