The life we’re looking for.
John 10:10
“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”
Is life all that we imagined it would be?
From the time we’re young, we’re sold a vision for life. It starts small but compounds as we grow.
As a kid, my greatest delight came when the ice cream truck drove by. And if you were lucky, it was the soft serve kind. On a hot summer day, that cone was pure joy.
But as adults, we get swept up in a different kind of pursuit—the promises of the world.
Here are a few lies we might be tempted to believe today:
If I had this car, I’d be happy.
That vacation will solve all my problems.
When I get married, my issues will disappear.
My marriage isn’t ideal; I want what they have.
That dream job will finally bring me peace.
What vision of your life have you believed?
Good things in life used to take time.
Let me take you down memory lane. Remember blockbuster? If you wanted to watch a movie, you’d have to go down to your nearest blockbuster. But there was a chance they wouldn’t have your movie in stock. If so, you’d have to shift gears. But even if you got the movie you wanted, you’d probably have to rewind it anyways (VHS days).
Now, we hardly ever wait for what we want. We’ve lost that muscle.
Today, if you want to watch a movie, it’s just a click away. Unless you have toddlers running around, there’s nothing stopping you.
There’s less in our way when it comes to getting what we want. Yet there are times we don’t get what we want, and it frustrates us. Sure, we can move on if we don’t get to watch that movie we wanted, but what if your life doesn’t turn out the way you imagined?
We end up frustrated.
Disappointed.
Hurt.
Our world makes a lot of promises, but they never quite deliver.
Sure, we have that car we dreamed of, but now we work to pay it off.
We get the job we wanted, but then lose ourselves trying to keep it.
Jesus tells us plainly: the thief comes to steal, kill, and destroy.
So let me ask: what has the thief stolen from you?
Has he robbed you of peace?
Of dignity?
Of purpose?
Jesus offers something entirely different: real life.
Not mere existence. Not survival. But life to the full.
But how? And the way to that life is simple, though not easy:
Follow Him.
To follow Jesus is to become His disciple.
To be formed into His image. To reflect God in a world desperate to see Him.
As Saint Irenaeus once said,
“The glory of God is a human fully alive, and truly human life consists in the vision of God.”
The life we all desire—the one we keep searching for—is only found in the vision of God.
That was His plan from the beginning: that we would be God-reflectors, made alive in His image.
Jesus makes a bold promise in Matthew 16:25 (ESV):
“For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.”
Lose your life in Jesus, and you’ll finally discover what it means to truly live.
Blessings,
Josh
