Made for More

"The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full."
John 10:10 (NIV)

Welcome to a brand-new month.

We are beginning October with a truth that will run underneath everything else this month: God never called you to a small, empty, spiritually ordinary life.

Jesus said, "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full."

Let us start by putting that sentence back where it belongs, because context does a great deal of work here. John 10 follows immediately after John 9, where Jesus healed a man born blind and the religious leaders threw him out of the synagogue for testifying about it. Jesus then tells a parable about a sheepfold, and He draws a contrast between two kinds of figures: the shepherd who enters by the gate and is known by the sheep, and the thief who climbs in another way.

So when Jesus says "the thief," He is not making a general observation about spiritual warfare. He is speaking directly about the false shepherds who had just excommunicated a healed man for the crime of telling the truth. That does not exclude the enemy of our souls, whom Scripture elsewhere calls a thief and a destroyer. But the first application is sharper and closer to home: any leadership, teaching or influence that takes life away from God's people rather than giving it is doing the thief's work.

Now look at the phrase that gives the month its theme: "life, and have it to the full."

The Greek word for life here is zoe. New Testament Greek has several words in this field. Bios refers to the span or means of physical existence, and it gives us the word biology. Psuche refers to the soul or the life of the natural person. Zoe is the word John uses again and again for the life of God Himself, the life that belongs to the age to come and is given to us now in Christ. John uses this word around thirty-six times in his Gospel. It is his signature theme, and he states his purpose in exactly these terms: "that by believing you may have life in his name" (John 20:31).

Then comes "to the full." The Greek is perissos, meaning abundant, surplus, over and above, more than the necessary measure. It is the same root Paul uses in Ephesians 3:20 for God doing "immeasurably more."

Put those two together and Jesus is not promising a comfortable life. He is promising the overflowing life of God, given now.

That needs a caution straight away, because this verse has been badly handled. "Life to the full" does not mean every day will be easy, prosperous, or successful by the world's measure. The man in the previous chapter received his sight and lost his place in the synagogue. The apostles who first heard these words were beaten, imprisoned and, most of them, killed. Paul, who wrote most extravagantly about the riches of Christ, wrote a good deal of it from prison.

If abundance meant comfort, the New Testament would be an embarrassing failure. The fullness Jesus offers is deeper and more durable than circumstances: His presence, His purpose, His character formed in us, and the power of the Holy Spirit at work through us.

And notice where the fullness comes from. It is not something we generate. Verse 11 tells us how the Shepherd secures it: "I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep." The abundant life reaches us across a cross. Jesus does not merely wish it for us; He purchased it at the cost of Himself.

So here is the honest question with which to begin the month. Where have we settled for less than what God has actually called us to?

We survive when He is calling us to grow. We stay in the shallow end because it is warm, when He is calling us to step out in faith. We say "this is just who I am" about attitudes and habits that grace is still perfectly capable of transforming, and we say it as though it were humility when it is actually unbelief.

Settling rarely announces itself. It arrives as reasonableness. It sounds like realism. But there is a difference between accepting your limitations and refusing God's intentions.

Most of us know someone who has kept the same phone contract for ten years because switching felt like a hassle, and has been paying far more than they needed to ever since. Nobody decided to overpay. They just never got round to changing it. Spiritual settling usually works the same way. It is rarely a decision; it is a series of things we never got round to.

So as October begins, do not only ask God to make life easier. Ask Him to make your life count. Those are two different prayers, and they will produce two different months.

You were saved for far more than survival. Ephesians 2 says we were saved by grace, and then immediately adds that we are His workmanship, created for good works prepared in advance. Salvation has a destination. You were made to know Jesus, to become like Jesus, and to make Jesus known.

Practically, begin the month by naming one area of settling. Just one. A relationship you have written off, a discipline you abandoned, a step of obedience you have discussed with God for a year, a gift you have buried because someone else's looked bigger. Bring that specific thing into the light today and ask the Good Shepherd for His fullness in it.

One more observation from the chapter, because it tells you how the fullness actually reaches you.

Jesus repeats a phrase in John 10 that is easy to skim: "I am the good shepherd." The Greek word He chooses for good is not agathos, which means morally good, but kalos, which means beautiful, noble, admirable. He is not merely a competent shepherd; He is an attractive one.

And the mark of that beauty, He says twice, is that He lays down His life for the sheep. Nobody takes it from Him; He lays it down of His own accord (verse 18).

So the abundant life is not a resource Jesus distributes from a distance. It is life He purchased by dying, and He describes that dying as the most beautiful thing about Him.

Step into October expecting more of God in you and through you. Do not settle for ordinary when Jesus has called you into life to the full.

Reflection

1. Where have you called something "just who I am" when grace is still able to change it? Be specific, and bring that one thing to God today.

2. Jesus described fullness of life in terms of His presence, purpose and power rather than comfort. How would your prayers change if you adopted His definition?

Prayer

Father, thank You that Jesus is the Good Shepherd who laid down His life so that I could have the very life of God. Forgive me for settling, and for dressing up unbelief as realism. Show me where I have stopped expecting You to change me. I do not simply ask You to make this month easier; I ask You to make it count. Fill me with Your presence, form Christ's character in me, and let the power of Your Spirit work through me in October in ways that would be impossible on my own. In Jesus' name, amen.

Declaration

I was made for more than survival. Jesus purchased fullness of life for me at the cross, and I will not settle for ordinary this month.

Pastor Ras
All Nations Community Church

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