“I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.” (John 10:10)
Jesus spent His twenties in the dusty, despised small town of Nazareth. He didn’t travel the earth He created. He didn’t rub elbows with the world’s beautiful people. He saw little more than the dusty carpenter shop He labored in. Was His life less than full? Far from it! How could He who came to give us “abundant life” not be living a full life?
Scripture defines the way of life quite differently than that thought of by men. “Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.” (Psalm 16:11) Men seek experiences that can only become fading memories. God would give us everlasting joy and pleasure in His presence. The Son lived in His Father’s presence while in the humblest of places and driest of circumstances. He came to usher us into the same full experience He had with God.
When every heady experience we’ve had on earth; when every wonderful sight we’ve seen, and sound we’ve heard, is about to fade away, may we be ready to pass into the presence of the God we loved and lived for. Heaven is first experienced on earth.