Life has conditioned many of us to be settlers – to be content with much less than what we potentially could have.
My teenage son was ready to get behind the wheel – any wheel. I promised to match dollar-for-dollar any money he could save toward the purchase of his own vehicle.
He quickly earned $500. With my matching $500 he thought he had enough to buy a car. I tried to reason with him, but he actually found a pick-up truck that he could afford. So, I played along. I figured he would learn soon enough how little $1,000 could buy.
The truck was parked in a grove of pine trees, but it would have looked more at home in a junkyard. The paint was splotchy, panels were dented or missing, and the tailgate was gone.
We got in and found that even the dashboard was missing and there were holes in the floor. I was surprised that it started. We took it for a test drive. He was clearly excited.
But then the truck began spewing a cloud of smoke. I quickly stopped and the smoke completely swallowed up the truck. Was it on fire? I couldn’t tell but I was not going to be held responsible for the death of that piece of junk, so we raced back to the house.
I approached the pine tree parking space and began to brake, but the pedal dropped to the floor. We had no brakes and I was headed for a passle of pine trees. By God’s grace the truck began to slow and come to a stop.
I sat there and trembled and silently thanked God for barely saving our lives. My son, however, broke the silence and said, “Dad, dad – can we buy it?”
He was so willing to settle for a piece of junk.
We laugh but are often prone to do the same thing. We have become comfortable with junk – with fractured marriages, and unmanageable debt, and unmotivated kids. We limp along depending on alcohol or chemicals, or the elusive hope of winning the lottery. There is emptiness inside of us that we just can’t fill
And we assume that the way we feel is how everyone feels. We scratch away to find a little pocket of satisfaction. But we don’t find it, so we adjust our expectations down, “Well I guess that’s just the way that life is!”
But Jesus says, “No, that’s not the way it should be. He said, “I have come so that they may have life and may have it abundantly” – John 10:10 NETBible ®.
He says, “Don’t settle. I want you to have an abundant life.” So, what is that?
I met a woman in her thirties who recently discovered the abundant life. She had never been to church and knew nothing about Jesus or the Bible.
She had been a settler for a long time – a broken marriage, a questionable boyfriend, and she was a functional alcoholic. She did well at her job – maybe the only bright spot for her.
But then she went to church one day and wondered if God might have more for her. She invited Jesus to be her Savior and Lord.
And things began to quickly change. The man she was living with, also turned to Christ. They were married. They both gave up alcohol and didn’t miss it a bit. The children wanted what they had and began to do church with them.
She and he both were beaming with joy as they told me how rich and satisfying their lives had become.
They went from being sad, confused settlers, to being cherished children of God and they are thoroughly enjoying the privileges of the abundant life today.
That’s what the Lord intended for them – and for you!
A PRAYER: Lord, help us introduce the settlers in our community to Jesus
May the grace of our Lord Jesus be with you
Pickle Heaven Press-James R. Johnson 