God’s desire for us as He calls us to Himself is at least two-fold.  Of course, He wishes for us to spend eternity with Him.  The hope of heaven is one of the sweetest aspects of our life in Christ.  We are greatly comforted and richly blessed by the knowledge that He has defeated death and given us the ultimate victory over our old enemy.  There is tremendous power in looking to the future with confidence and peace.

But God does not bless us only in the by-and-by.  His desire for our good is also for today.  Jesus said that He came that we might have life and have it abundantly — that we would live to the full.  The curse of sin not only steals away our relationship with God but also our relationships with each other and with the beautiful world into which we were born.  Christ must make “all things new” because Satan has made all things old and corrupt.  The victory of the cross opens the door of heaven to us, but it also opens a whole new world of peace, power and purpose right here and right now.

Some are deceived into thinking that this abundant life is a life of ease and plenty; that the faithful ought to be consistently healthy, wealthy, and free of worries and trouble.  Such is never the promise of the Scriptures.  The abundant life is one in which we discover the full extent of God’s goodness and power.  It is a growing in Christlikeness.  Jesus came to serve rather than to be served and the abundant life is always a life of service.  We are absolutely at our best when we are in service to God.

True Christianity is never a spectator sport.  God’s purpose includes you, not just as a name in a heavenly roll book, but as an important and integral part of His redemptive plan.  The real joy of life will only be discovered as you invest yourself in the eternal work of His body, the church.  You are called to a mission and a ministry.  God is ready and eager to work with you and through you to give eternal and abundant life to this lost world.