Yes, So Far I Have Understood

“Everyone hears only what he understands.” Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

It may be a higher level, but it is still within its own circle of thought, of time. It may go beyond the village, but there is still the other side of the mountain to climb. It may lead me out of the wilderness, but somehow that wilderness is still part of the garden.

I seek because without God life has little meaning. I seek Him out of sorrow and pain. I seek Him because I want peace. I seek Him because I desire something permanent and changeless. I seek Him because there is death and He is deathless. I seek Him for order, beauty, mercy, goodness and love, but mostly I seek Him for His understanding and wisdom.

Yes, I am beginning to understand…

That I do not wish to deceive myself again; that time and patience may be necessary for achieving my dreams; that I no longer desire to give my time and energy to simply earning a living, to the gathering of useless information, to the fire of belief, to superficial prayers and the worship of religion, to activities of reform, to the pursuit of ideals and virtues, or to any and all activities which give so little in return.

I want to listen to new ideas, to embrace new truths, to never again get entangled in words, to understand My own truth in the morning.

Yes, I am beginning to understand…

But not just the mere description of water which has no relevance to those who thirst. I want to understand the ways of a lovely, curving river which is always nourishing the earth and men. I want to understand my self-center as it moves through the fields of the known. I want to understand the self-forgetful majesty of unspoiled solitude. I want to understand that where heaven meets earth is where divinity meets humanity.

But am I really seeking something or am I seeking to be something? Am I really just waiting for a strong wind to direct me metaphorically from a lower level to a higher position? Or is my hope made up of a multitude of little things put together from roots that are shallow?

Yes, so far I understand…

Whether I have understood or not will show in my daily life.

I AM Come…

The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. John 10:10 KJV

And Jesus said to them, “I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.” So that men would might know who he is Jesus identifies his divinity, “I AM” come. This is the same “I AM” who answered Moses in the burning bush when he posed the question,  ’who shall I tell the people of Israel who sent me?” And God answers, “Tell them, I AM sent you!”

So that men might understand why he came, Jesus says he came that men might have life and might have it more abundantly. The Greek phrase used for having it more abundantly means to have a superabundance of a thing. Thus, to be a follower of Jesus, to know who he is and what he means, is to have a superabundance of life.

And so that men might experience the true nature of God, Jesus declares that He is the Good Shepherd, “I AM the Good Shepherd” but more importantly that he is the gateway, the door…”I AM the Door,” he says, by which men must enter in order to be saved.

Jesus changed the world with only a three-year ministry.

So what are you doing with your life? Does your life even matter? Does it count at all? Will this planet lose more than just another statistical number when you leave the earth realm? Outside of your inner circle will anyone remember your name?

For if you hold onto your life you will lose it, but if give your life away to God in the service of humanity He will bless you with a greater life. This is the abundant life Jesus is talking about. The superabundant life.

For didn’t you know that loss and lack is evidence that the thief has already entered your life? God is not trying to get something to you, he is trying to get something through you. But He will not fill a vessel that is already full. Empty yourself of yourself so God can fill your cup with His superabundant life.

Didn’t you know that I AM is greater than our storms in life?

• That I AM is greater than our will to hope in the midst of hopelessness?
• That I AM is the door of our salvation?
• That I AM is our resurrected life?

Or did you believe Jesus when he said to us, “I AM has come…?”