Abundantly

“I came that they might have life, and have it abundantly.”  John 10:10

Abundantly – Travel with me to the open market in Douz.  It is on the edge of the Sahara desert, an oasis clinging to a hundred palms on the shore of a writhing sand sea.  Every Tuesday, the market teams with activity.  Barter is the name of the game.  Bedouins from many tribes congregate to exchange their goods.  As you walk the aisles, you come upon an old woman selling maize.  She uses a cup to measure the amount.  One cup, one coin.  After all, you don’t have a chicken to trade.  But this old woman likes the little child holding your hand.  Bedouins envy his blond hair.  So, when she scoops up a cup of maize she does not smooth off the top.  She fills the cup to overflowing and dumps it into your bag. 

Jesus used an image from the marketplace to talk about the life He gives.  It is the overflowing cup.  Perisson, he says.  Over the top.  Others have come to steal what you have, to seize your life by force and take it away, to destroy you.  But Jesus comes to give you all that you need and more. 

Jesus was an Old Testament man.  Do you suppose that he had “my cup runs over” in mind when he used this image?  The idea is not new.  God has been in the overflowing business for centuries.  But in the climate where Jesus lived, the words have a very special meaning.  Remember the discussion about “living water” – that conversation with the woman at the well.  The water that flows over the top of the vessel trying to hold it.  Water in the desert is very precious stuff.  And water that flows is ever more precious. 

We all want the abundant life.  But the purpose of abundance is not hoarding.  It is giving.  What exceeds our need is to be given to others.  God’s design is really simple:  He will give you more than you need so that you can give away the abundance.  Was that part of your “abundant life” thinking?  When the old woman dropped that extra amount in your bag, did you think, “Oh, thank you Lord, now I can give it away to someone else”?

Abundance is not about gathering.  It is about giving.  When God provides more than you need, give liberally.  You will discover something amazing about abundant living.  It’s not what you have that matters.  It’s what you have not held on to.