They say it's a great way to feel alive. I'll bet! The prospect of tricking your body into believing it's about to die would probably get every nerve-ending tingling with adrenaline. That's ‘life to the max’, says the sun-drenched advert; either that or a bottle of Pepsi.
Is it really though? In John 10:10, Jesus offers an intriguing prospect. He tells the Pharisees that he came to bring life, and 'life to the full'. What did he mean? What does ‘life to the full’ look like? How can we live like that? Is that something we should aim for? Why did he say it? In this blog, I've examined John 10, hoping to answer some of those questions.
The exciting lives of sheep
One of the first things to notice about John chapter 10 is that, before it's about an incredible way of living, it seems to be about something else... altogether...
It’s about sheep - or rather, the relationship between a flock of sheep and their shepherd.
"The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out."
John 10:2-3
No bungee-jumping so far - just a gatekeeper opening a gate and letting the shepherd lead the sheep through it. It's the kind of thing anybody would recognise as a bucolic, chocolate-box picture, just like you’d see every day in the Judean countryside.
Yet this picture sets the context in which we can discover the most exciting life available to us, and that starts with the idea of relationship with Jesus and the Father. Look a little closer: the shepherd is Jesus, leading the sheep; the gatekeeper is the Father, opening the door only for the shepherd, who went out into the wild to find us, to rescue us and to bring us home.
Life to the full can only make sense in the relationship we have with the shepherd.
"When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognise a stranger's voice."
John 10:4-5
Life is always best in relationships. That's why, as humans we flow together as families, tribes, nations and peoples - uniting together in the things we share. What Jesus is saying is that life is best expressed in the context of relationship with him, knowing his voice and following his lead, finding your way to the Father and living in his presence.
How to tell if something is alive
Biology and other life-sciences use a system of seven processes to identify whether something is alive. They look for movement, breathing, excretion, nutrition, reproduction, growth and sensitivity to external stimuli. These are indicators of physical life.
We can use those same seven processes to identify what kind of life we lead, and find ways to help live that life to the full. What can we learn?
Move
Movement is perhaps the most obvious of the life-signs. Dead things can't dance. Ephesians 2 tells us that we have been made 'alive' in Christ, literally 'animated' into life. We've been given freedom to move in a way that we weren't previously able to, liberated from the shackles of sin and in the power of the Holy Spirit. You have permission to be you and to move the way that you were designed to. Dad-dancing is okay.
The enemy tries to steal our freedom to move by holding us back. He does that through doubt, through sin and fear, by causing us to compare ourselves with others and then to wallow in inferiority. It's a bit like getting stuck in sinking sand. However, when you listen to the Shepherd, you start to realise the truth about yourself. When you follow him, you start to move in time with that truth and you can be free to be the real you.
Breathe
Respiration is the next thing the scientists look for. Are you breathing? It's a crucial sign of being alive. Similarly, we need the oxygen of the Holy Spirit to maintain a life to the full. He inspires us, refreshes us, breathes through us in a way that exhilarates and sustains us through every difficulty and obstacle. If life to the full is anything, it's lived out in connection with the Holy Spirit.
Sense
Sensitivity is an indicator of a responsive system. There are certain plants which react to the gentlest touch of sunlight; some animals demonstrate the most remarkable senses in order to find food or avoid danger. In our lives lived to the full, we too should have sharpened senses, being highly aware of what God is doing in our communities and our surroundings. This is really all about listening to what He's saying and hearing his whisper in the air - something which we can train ourselves to do, just by being still, listening to him and increasing our sensitivity. This is why Jesus says that the 'sheep know his voice' - they've spent time listening to him in prayer, not just talking at him, but hearing from heaven and understanding what he has been saying.
The thief wants to destroy your hearing, pull you away with the beautiful sound of distraction, but the shepherd knows his sheep are tuned into his frequency and know his voice.
Eat
Nutrition is important for life. Trees take in nutrients from the soil, plants soak up water from the rain and we feed ourselves with good food. In the Bible, food always corresponds to the Word of God, the scriptures: the Bible.
If you want to live a life that's full, you have to fill it with words of life. When the enemy wants to destroy your connection with the Shepherd, he will try every trick in the book to get you out of the Book. Yet the Book is the fastest way to find out what the Shepherd is saying in black and white; it is jam-packed with ancient wisdom for today and goodness for tomorrow.
Deal
While Excretion is a life process we don't often like to think of, it is important as it removes waste from our bodies and indicates healthy digestion. One of the things a person with a full-life is able to do, is to keep short accounts with God, be very real about the things they need to get rid of and deal with their shortcomings quickly and honestly. Deep down, we all know that holding on to problems and sin and bad attitudes for long periods of time leads to complications. Living life to the full means not being weighed down by those things but taking appropriate steps to confess, repent, get ministry and be accountable - all of which are really important for finding freedom, and help us grow.
Grow
Growth is also a process which indicates that an organism is demonstrating life. All of us are designed to grow, to change to mature and develop in our life, especially to live it to the full! As the seasons change, it's important to ensure that we grow and change too, listening to God and allowing him to challenge and shape us. Growth can sometimes be painful and change is difficult, but the process is a key factor in determining the quality of our lives.
A person living life to the full, shouldn't be afraid of growth but should learn to grow with God and with each other. We're meant to produce fruit too! What kind of fruit are you producing now that you can only see because you've grown?
It can often be quite exciting to look back at the way we've grown over the years and thank God for it.
Reproduce
Finally, the last life sign is Reproduction. In the film, Jurassic Park, Dr Grant discovers that, on an island of female dinosaurs, some of them have actually found a way to reproduce asexually. "Life will find a way," the famous quote goes.
It's true that life will find a way to reproduce - the survival of a species depends upon it. Similarly then, a life that's lived to the full will find itself reproducing, bearing fruit and raising others... wherever it goes.
In fact, this is the hallmark of maturity: raising the young and allowing your life to flow through them. In the spiritual life, this looks like discipleship, providing an environment where people can be fed, can grow and can reach their potential.
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The Bible talks a lot about blessing being 'pressed down, shaken together and running over'. This is the picture of fullness - not just full, but so full that it overflows with ridiculous abundance, affecting everything and everyone around us. While the pessimist and the optimist are arguing about half-measures, the person living life to the full is already overflowing.
This is how it should be, I think - these seven processes work together enabling us to be free to move, breathing the air of the Holy Spirit, nourishing ourselves on the word, dealing with sin and our shortcomings, being sensitive to the movement of God in those around us, ready to grow and willing to lead others in the adventure of following Jesus.
And it is an adventure. Just a glimpse of the gospels or the book of Acts shows us that a life surrendered to following him is anything but empty. What Jesus promises is a life that cascades into the world, bringing his life where it's needed, shining the greatest light into the deepest darkness and living to the full.
It's only my opinion, I know, but I reckon it's way better than bungee jumping.
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