Happy Life!

Read John 10:1-11

There was an old song made famous with a yellow smiley face that said, “Don’t worry, be happy” that became a catch phrase for many people. While on a family visit to Disney World, I pondered the sign over the entrance arch that read, “Welcome to the happiest place on earth.” The rest of the day I looked at the faces of the people and was impressed by the small number who was actually smiling during their visit to “the happiest place on earth.” After walking what seemed like miles all day and becoming exhausted, that saying really didn’t seem to apply. In fact, as I walked through the park, it didn’t surprise me that so few adults seemed to be really enjoying themselves. There were moments of joy, but I also remember my brother-in-law and me making fun of some parents that were getting highly upset with their children. We would provide commentary like, “We’re here to have fun, and we will have fun, even if I have to force you to have fun!” Does that sound familiar?
As I think of that day, I am reminded of a line from an old song that says, “Life goes on, long after the thrill of living is gone.” So it seems. To live life to the fullest is qualitatively different than merely existing. In fact, Jesus said that part of His mission was to enable us to live life to the fullest: “I have come that they may have life and that they may have it more abundantly” (John 10:10).
Some people run scared when they read that, thinking, I have just about all the life I can handle right now. Jesus was telling us that if we lived the way He desires us to live, our life would be in abundance. He came so that we could experience life to the full—not according to the standards of a fallen world, but life as it was intended to be. It is life according to the designs and desires of the Creator of life.
By coming to provide forgiveness for rebellious, broken people, Jesus has made it possible for us to live a life of joy and hope in a world of despair. Our flesh will not always be pleased, and the struggles of life will not cease, but when you live the life He desires, it is filled with hope knowing that this too shall pass.

“Many a man curses the rain that falls upon his head, and knows not that it brings abundance to drive away the hunger.”
- Saint Basil