Jelly Beans, More Abundantly

"I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." John 10:10(b)

That's Jesus talking. Let me give you a little background on this verse: according to every Sunday school clip art graphic ever created, we know that Jesus was wearing a white flowy robe at the time of its utterance, and the words were spoken with arms gently and warmly outstretched. Scholar/artists disagree about whether the white robe featured a purple or blue shoulder sash or a nauticalish rope tied at his waist. His shoulder length, Northern European hair had definitely just been brushed and there'd been a special on whitening at the dentist that week because his pearly whites are sparkling. 

I think, because it's such an easy one to remember, I immediately associate this verse with Sunday school - where we specialized in easy-to-remember verses. And I immediately associate Sunday school with Clip-art Jesus. So for me, this verse - John 10:10 - is a clip-art verse. It can be used over and over again, in whatever capacity you need to use it, but its effectiveness wears off over time when it makes too many appearances or starts showing up in weird places. And, it's not really art. It's kind of a reflection of art. A tiny little piece of a much bigger work of art.

What? Not really art? Am I saying that this scripture is not really scripture?

Well, I guess, kinda, I sort of am. Not in that form, at least.

There's this invitation, over at (in)courage, where bloggers were asked to write about what it means to us to live life to the full. I felt up to the challenge and started thinking about that verse, John 10:10, and realized... I have no idea. Life to the full? Who says that? 

I looked up other translations - King James says "more abundantly," and ESV says, just, "abundantly." The Message, which is sometimes helpful in getting the gist, swings for the fences and says "I came so they can have real and eternal life, more and better life than they ever dreamed of." 

  

I like the word "abundantly," and I like "more and better," but I was still having trouble applying it to my own life. I'm not sure I really could handle "MORE" life - I have quite enough to handle right now, thank you...

But then I stopped looking at the clip art version and read the rest of the verse. It goes like this:

"The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly." John 10:10

Wait, there's a thief? Now the story is getting good. Putting it in context - reading the entire passage from where the verse is taken - we see that Jesus is in the middle of a sermon declaring himself to be the Good Shepherd. Presumably speaking to people who lived and breathed sheep, Jesus is making himself relevant, redeeming what they know and revealing to them the Gospel in a language they can understand.

The thief first shows up in 10:1, when Jesus is reminding his audience about how anyone who enters the sheepfold by any way other than the gate is a thief and a robber. But the one who enters through the door - that guy is the shepherd. He's the one who knows the sheep, and whose voice the sheep will answer to and follow. 

Jesus then turns the story on them to say: "Listen up: I am the door. I am the gate. I am the shepherd. Anyone who came before me and told you how to get to God? Thieves and robbers. Come through me, and you get safety and pasture." 

And here we pick up 10:10, where Jesus says essentially: Anything Else: Bad. Jesus: Good. 

I love this picture of restoration - how we used to know only thieves who would take rather than give. But now, Jesus gives us life and he is in the business of making it better and fuller every day. Here's what I'm picturing now: let's say my life is a giant jar of jellybeans that God has given me. And right here, in my own home, is a ginormous jelly bean dispenser. Any time I want, I can go have Jesus refill my jar of jellybeans to over flowing. But I seem to forget to visit the dispenser - instead getting distracted by activities or voices or opportunities that each cost a few jellybeans to experience - slowly but steadily emptying my jar...robbing me of the life that Jesus intended for me to enjoy. 

I guess life more abundantly has to do with how full I allow Jesus to keep that jar. Will I listen to all of the voices telling me that I have to earn my keep? Or that I have to be perfect? There are no shortage of life-stealing messages - even well-meaning ones - for me to be distracted by. So maybe life, more abundantly, means staying so close to Jesus that my jar stays full and I have more to give. Maybe the closer I stay to the Shepherd, the more opportunity I will have to be everything I was meant to be. Every bit the wife, every bit the mother, every bit the daughter, the sister, the granddaughter, the friend, the servant, the teacher, the musician, the writer. Listening so carefully and recognizing so acutely the voice of the shepherd that no thief can sneak in to steal, kill or destroy my jelly beans.