I make my family walk like ½ a mile when we go to Busch Stadium for a game. I refuse to pay more than $5 for parking. We also get the cheap seats . . . it’s important for my kids to encounter a healthy amount of stadium rowdiness that can only come from the cheap seats – Life Experience!
Once, my son and I were looking at the expensive seats during the 8th inning of a very one-sided early-season game. There was ample room for us to move so we did. Cushion seats! Did you know they have cushioned seats at the stadium?? Sitting there we could see things from a whole new perspective, almost close enough to have conversations with the players! And no usher said a thing to us!! Sitting down front sounded good, but it was even nicer than I expected. We could see and experience things from a whole new perspective.
Jesus’s words in John 10 that you read yesterday echo a passage familiar to many of His audience members. A passage which spells out in further detail what kind of abundant life He was talking about.
Ezekiel 34:25-28
I will make with them a covenant
of peace and banish wild beasts from the land, so that they may dwell securely
in the wilderness and sleep in the woods. And I will make them and the places
all around my hill a blessing, and I will send down the showers in their season; they shall be showers of blessing. And the trees of the field shall
yield their fruit, and the earth shall yield its increase, and they shall be
secure in their land. And they shall know that I am the Lord when I break the
bars of their yoke, and deliver them from the hand of those who enslaved them.
They shall no more be a prey to the nations, nor shall the beasts of the land
devour them. They shall dwell securely, and none shall make them afraid.
Read that again.
Isn’t it beautiful?
God wants to bless you,
to shower you with blessing.
Understand, rain was highly needed for everyday life. And completely OUTSIDE of their control.
But when Jesus talks about an abundant life, He tells us that things from God will enter your life . . . when you need them . . . and be a blessing to you.
Same with the trees.
Same with the earth.
Security & safety.
And the best part of those bound by pornography & lust . . .
“breaking the bars of your yoke”.
No longer being prey!
All your needs (those that often drive you to porn) met,
blessings which cause you to flourish . . . safety and security,
and FREEDOM . . . from yokes that enslave you!
THAT is an abundant life.
THAT is what God wants for you.
THAT is the life you can live . . . IF you listen to your shepherd.
It sounds nice, but it’s even better than you expect, and you’ll see things from a whole new perspective
. . . as though you were sitting on cushion seats.
Thoughts to Journal:
- What needs drive you to porn which God wants to meet for you?
- Of those, what do you need to let go of? What’s stopping you?
- What does life look like in 5 years if you DON’T pursue God’s plan for an abundant life?
Reading: