The parable Jesus taught in the tenth chapter of John is an amazing eye-opener! Jesus referred to Himself as a “portal”(v.3) and “the door” (v.9). He is how we believers reach and enter into the Holy presence of Yahweh (God). Jesus is the only highway or passageway or pathway to Heaven. Believers need to follow Him. Jesus is the only one who knows how to get to Heaven. No one can find the way to heaven without Christ the Lord.

While our souls reside in our earth suits, we can choose to live inside or outside the Kingdom of God and the Kingdom of Heaven. Jesus said, “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.”

Notice the operative words here: “might have life” and “more abundantly”. Studying the word, “abundant” reveals a contextual meaning. In the Greek, the first transliteration of the Gospels, “Perissos” means “pre-eminence, superiority, advantage, more eminent, more remarkable, more excellent.” The root word, “Peri” means, “beyond.” Jesus, by grace, offers the world something mankind cannot provide.

What is your perception of the abundant life Jesus gives so generously? Most Christians understand abundant life is prosperity, blessing, and favor. Are you living in the abundance of His gift or do you have different expectations?

Jesus demonstrated the abundant life He came to offer the world through His actions and words. To ensure everyone received the Kingdom of Heaven, he taught and empowered His disciples to carry on what He began. You will find in the four Gospels that, as he selected His friends, Jesus said, “follow me.”

The power, love, and wisdom of Jesus, in the two words, hooked the minds and hearts of his disciples. If you recall, whomsoever He spoke the words to dropped what they were doing and followed Him. The moment they obeyed His words, the moment they desired and sought after that thing that had hooked their hearts, is the moment abundant life began in them.

Jesus used no tricks or material things to show abundant life. Instead, He empowered businessmen with the ability to gather and lead the lost. This is what He meant when He said, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men” in Matthew 4:19. The disciples, as fishers of men, continued the process of preaching abundant life, the Kingdom of God, and the Kingdom of Heaven. The Gospel of Jesus, preached by the disciples, stirred up faith in the hearts of people who desired truth over tradition.

Believers who follow Jesus whole-heartedly have life more abundantly. “The way, the truth, and the life” that Jesus is hooks and sets fire to the hearts of men. The fire spreads, igniting new flames, and increases the family of God.

In Isaiah, 55:9 Yahweh (God) said, “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.” This is why Christ’s believers should not associate abundant life with earthly wealth and possessions or having the most likes and shares on social media. Jesus never said follow after the world or each other. He said, “Follow me.”

How might we live abundantly today? The way to abundant life is to live life in Christ. In Christ, we are cleansed from sins, all our needs are met, we are healed, we have deliverance from evil, we have true love, we have everlasting life, we have protection,we have safety, we have riches in glory, we even have a powerhouse inside of us called the Holy Spirit.

People who do not follow Jesus cannot partake of Him or claim His many benefits. Non-believers appearing to live better because they have lots of material possessions and money are deceived. Non-believers do not have the Holy Spirit of truth, the Father or Christ residingin their hearts.

Consider the joy Jesus dispensed to the people following Him. Consider the hope in the hearts of the people when they saw the mother of a man who had died. Imagine that mother’s face when Jesus touched the bier and her son sat up. Think about Jairus’s joy when Jesus spoke life into his dead little girl and she sat up.And how about the happiness Mary and Martha experienced when Jesus returned their brother Lazarus to them? What do you suppose was the first thing the woman with the twelve-year issue of blooddid when she got home? These people and many more followers of Christ witnessed and received powerful abundant life within their lifetimes because of their faith in Him.

Living large is not equivalent to acquiring stuff! Jesus said, “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” (Matthew 6:19-21).

Jesus is telling us that the abundant life He came to give does not consist of materialistic objects, things that can be taken away from you when you least expect it. Unlike abundant life, material possessions are temporary. They will be lost, stolen, inherited, sold, or destroyed.

Isaiah 55:2 in the King James Bible teaches this: “Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? and your labor for that which satisfieth not? hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness.” In other words, eat (learn) the “bread of life” (the word of God), for Christ is abundant eternal life. He is “the First and the Last,” which makes Him the One and Only.