New Morning Mercies #107

What could comfort you more than these words: “I came that they may have life and have it abundantly” (John 10:10)?

Everybody searches for life somewhere. God has placed this quest in each of our hearts. It is there to drive us to him. It is there because we were made for him. But sadly, in their lifelong quest for life, most people ignore God. In their God amnesia, they look for life where it cannot be found, and because they do, they always come up empty.

It’s important to realize that you can search for life in only two places. Either you have found life to the fullest vertically or you are shopping for it horizontally. This is a major piece of what Paul is writing about in Romans 1:25 when he says: “They exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.” What is that lie? It is the lie that was first told in the garden of Eden—the false promise that life, heart-satisfying life, could be found somewhere outside the Creator. It is the lie of lies, the cruelest lie ever told. If you believe it, it will not only leave you empty and discouraged, but it will set your life on a course of destruction.

The physical, created world is full of engaging and entertaining delights, but it is important to understand that nothing in the physical world can give you the life that your heart longs for. The delights of the physical world were carefully crafted to point to the One who alone is able to give your heart eternal delight. God alone is able to bring the deepest of joy and contentment to your heart. He alone is able to give you a reason for getting up in the morning and a purpose for living. He alone can infuse your heart with hope, no matter what is going on around you. So in amazing grace, he welcomes you to surrender all your hopes and dreams to him. In love, he beckons you to follow.

Again today, he promises you life. It’s what he came to live, die, and rise again to give you. That empty tomb not only means he has conquered death, but it tells you he has life in his hands, the kind of life all human beings were designed to long for whether they know it or not. You can’t find or earn that life on your own. It is yours only by means of the work of another.

Could it be today that you will fretfully search horizontally for what you have already been given in Christ? Will you try to drink from an empty well when you have already been given thirst-quenching living water?

For further study and encouragement: John 4:1–26