{"id":7145,"date":"2014-06-30T05:00:46","date_gmt":"2014-06-30T10:00:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jolenephilo.com\/staging\/?p=7145"},"modified":"2014-06-29T13:49:26","modified_gmt":"2014-06-29T18:49:26","slug":"abundant-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jolenephilo.com\/staging\/abundant-life\/","title":{"rendered":"Abundant Life"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"hourglass\"<\/a><\/p>\n

A thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy.<\/em>
\nI came that they may have life and have it abundantly.<\/em>
\nJohn 10:10<\/em><\/p>\n

A couple weeks ago, I attended my high school fortieth class reunion\u2026<\/p>\n

\u2026Okay, right there was where you were interrupt and say, \u201cNo way! Your fortieth class reunion? Can\u2019t be!\u201d But you didn\u2019t interrupt, and neither did my former classmates. Partly because they knew it really has been forty years since we received our diplomas. And partly because we were all shaking our puzzled heads and asking these questions instead:<\/p>\n

How did it happen?<\/em>
\nWhere did the last forty years go?<\/em>
\nHow can we be this old?<\/em><\/p>\n

Those of you close to my age are reading those questions and nodding in agreement. The rest of you young whippersnappers, you\u2019ll be nodding too when you\u2019ve lived long enough to realize that life on this earth is short.<\/p>\n

Short and exceedingly precious.<\/em>
\nShort and easily squandered.<\/em>
\nShort and inexorably inching forward.<\/em><\/p>\n

God gives each person one short earthly life. In that span of years is time enough for God to show Christ to us. Time enough to accept the bountiful gift of His Son and live in light of eternity. Or time enough to reject his bounty and live as though this dark world is all there is. Whichever choice a person makes, one day after decades have slipped away in plain sight, we will all shake our puzzled heads and ask the same questions:<\/p>\n

How did it happen?<\/em>
\nWhere did the years go?<\/em>
\nHow can I be this old?<\/em><\/p>\n

The response of those who chose the gift of abundant life purchased by Christ will be, \u201cThis is just the beginning. The best is yet to come.\u201d But, the response of those who rejected his gift will ask, \u201cIs this it? Is really all there is?\u201d<\/p>\n

Abundant life for some.<\/em>
\nAbundant despair for others.<\/em>
\nAbundant opportunity for believers to share Christ with those lost in the darkness.<\/em><\/p>\n

For those who choose abundant life, each day is a gift from God. A day in which God uses his children to show Christ to those who have not yet accepted his bounty or to those who previously rejected him. A day in which God uses his men and women to be all things to all people, so he might save some. A day in which we realize:<\/p>\n

Each of our days is exceedingly precious.<\/em>
\nEach of our days can be easily squandered.<\/em>
\nEach of our days inches inexorably forward.<\/em><\/p>\n

And at the end of each of those days, our questions should ever be the same\u2026How did I use this gift of abundance today? Lord, how would you have me use it tomorrow?<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. John 10:10 A couple weeks ago, I attended my high school fortieth class reunion\u2026 \u2026Okay, right there was where you were interrupt and say, \u201cNo way! Your fortieth class reunion? Can\u2019t be!\u201d But you […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7146,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[509,2610,2611,2609],"class_list":["post-7145","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-church-newsletter-column","tag-grace","tag-passage-of-time","tag-priorities","tag-stewardship"],"yoast_head":"\nAbundant Life - Jolene Philo Staging<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Abundant Life - Jolene Philo Staging\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. John 10:10 A couple weeks ago, I attended my high school fortieth class reunion\u2026 \u2026Okay, right there was where you were interrupt and say, \u201cNo way! Your fortieth class reunion? 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