December 12, 2022
Just What You’ve Always Wanted
Sharon Jaynes
Today’s Truth
The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full (John 10:10 NIV).
Friend to Friend
Yard sales. I’ve never really liked them. But when we were preparing to move from our home of twenty years, we decided it was the best way to clean out the clutter and make a little money.
We displayed our lovely attic décor on makeshift plywood tables and waited for the bargain babes to descend. Two hours before the advertised opening time, treasure hunters began congregating outside the closed garage doors. Then, the doors rose, and the swarm attacked.
Among the valuables from my past sat an electric, ceramic 12” Christmas tree with various colored lights…no doubt a gift from the eighties. One woman perused the lovely display and came upon this “magnificent work of art.”
“I’ve always wanted one of these!” she declared with excitement in her voice. “How much is it?”
“Three dollars,” my husband, Steve, answered.
“Humph,” she grunted and walked on.
Steve and I just looked at each other and stifled our laughter.
Let’s rewind the scene for a moment. This woman said she had always wanted a ceramic Christmas tree just like that one. (I’m not here to judge another person’s dreams. That’s just what she said.) Always. Her whole life. And here it was! For a mere $3, her dream could have come true! The search over! Most likely we would have sacrificed this masterpiece for $2, but she didn’t even ask. She just shrugged and walked away.
As I watched the woman walk away, I thought about the Pharisees in the Bible. For years they waited for the coming of the promised Messiah. Prayed about it. Preached about it. Prepared for it.
Then when Jesus showed up on that starry night in Bethlehem, they turned their backs and walked away. Humph,” they said with a shrug. “No thanks.”
But am I much different? Maybe not about yard sale treasures or Jesus, but other desires?
How many times do we long for a particular dream to come true in our lives? Search for it. Obsess over it. A husband. A child. A job. A home.
Then one day, there it is! It can be ours! The search is over. We say our “I do’s,” bring home the bundle of joy, log in our first eight hours, hang the last curtain.
But then, a little time passes. The husband is not as romantic as we had hoped, the kids are not as obedient as we had imagined, the job isn’t as rewarding as we had envisioned, and the house is a never-ending maze of maintenance.
“Humph,” we grumble. We thought we wanted something, and then when we got it, we decided we really didn’t want it after all.
Let me take it one step further. How many times do we long for love, joy, and peace in our lives? We search for it, long for it, and pray about it. Then someone points us to, not a ceramic Christmas tree, but the rugged cross and says, “There it is. It can be yours for the asking. It’s not even $3, $2 or $1. It’s free!”
Jesus said, “I have come that they might have life, and have it to the full” (NIV). He’s what we’ve been looking for! Nothing satisfies the soul like what Jesus supplies for me.
There’s no Christmas gift, no relationship, no perfect celebration that is going to satisfy the soul in the long run. It’s only a personal, intimate relationship with Jesus. Dear friend, God is holding out His Holy hand with the most magnificent gift of all time. Love, joy, and peace personified in His Son, Jesus Christ. He is what you have always been longing for, searching for, watching for. The joy you’ve wanted all your life.
Let’s Pray
Dear Heavenly Father, thank You for making all my dreams come true. You have given me everything I have ever longed for in the person of Jesus Christ. Please forgive me for turning my back on Your amazing Gift and trying to fill my longings with people and possessions. I know that nothing will ever satisfy my desire for peace, love, and joy except Jesus. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
Now It’s Your Turn
Have you ever searched and searched for something, and then when you found it, you realized it wasn’t so great after all? Make a list. If you’re like me, it is probably long…if you’re honest. Click on comment and share three.
What do you think Jesus means in today’s truth by “life to the full?”
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© 2022 by Sharon Jaynes. All rights reserved.
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Originally published Monday, 12 December 2022.
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