“In Him was Life, and the Life was the Light of men.”
-John 1:4 (AMP)
Some say that life’s a party, so live it up. That sure is a fun way to think about it. “YOLO,” right? Some say life is a roller coaster. Maybe a highway… Or a river. Roll with the punches. Life’s not fair. Life is also a cereal. Whatever it is, make the most of it, and do what you can with the hand that life deals you. What a bummer life would be if that’s how it actually is.
In order to really dive into this, we need to talk about soda. You know how there’s always a name-brand soda (Pepsi, Coca-Cola, Dr. Pepper) and there’s an off brand (Dr. Thunder, Mountain Lightning). Which would you rather have? The real stuff is always better.
Well, there’s a name-brand version of life, and an off-brand version of life. The name-brand version for life is called zoe and it’s God’s version of life. The off-brand version of life is actually death, which is really ironic. But if you think about it, if it’s not advancing, then it’s decaying. Death is decaying.
Zoe is how Jesus lived everyday. He introduced God’s very life to our dying world. And He introduced it abundantly! (John 10:10). John 1:4 says that Jesus is life. He is zoe. He is God’s way of living.
John chapter one is actually talking about the Word of God, and how Jesus was the Word of God made flesh. As the Word, Jesus brought life. And we see that everywhere He went! In Proverbs 4:20 it says that we need to pay attention to His words because they bring life to those who find them. John 6:63 says that His words are Spirit and life. This means that when you read the Bible, you’re reading the very words of life. The same words He used to heal the blind and make the lame walk.
Now let’s go to the store. In the soda isle, we have all of these name-brand sodas and off-brand sodas. What do you have to do to get that name-brand soda? What would you have to do to take the off-brand? You’d pick it up off the shelf, right? It’s your choice.
It is the same way with life. I will make it even clearer for you. In the same way that the off-brand of something doesn’t even qualify, we can say that the off-brand of life isn’t actually life. There is only one life, and that is Jesus (John 14:6).
It’s good to know that Jesus introduced God’s life to the world, but it’s even better to know that zoe is even closer to you than right at your fingertips. 1 John 4:4 says that greater is He who lives in you than he that lives in the world. That means no more roller-coasters or rolling with the punches. Thanks to this zoe way of living, we no longer have to guess at the “hand of cards” that life deals us. But just as Jesus made His life and everything He came into contact with conform to zoe life, we now have the ability to change our world to fit that exact same way of zoe life.
[hr style=”2″ margin=”30px 0px 30px 0px”]everydayMISSION:
Today, because zoe is now in you, let it out. I challenge you to express zoe, the God kind of life. Think about how Jesus has lived life: did He have a down day? Was He ever depressed? In fact, wherever Jesus went, He brightened people’s days. That’s what zoe does, so go and brighten someone’s day. It could be something simple like a smile, or a prayer; both are great ways of spreading life!
[hr style=”2″ margin=”30px 0px 30px 0px”]everydayCONVERSATION:
“Father, thank You for Your zoe life on the inside of me. Thank You for giving it to me! Now, I am not subject to death or any form of decay, because I have the abundant life of God living on the inside of me. I choose Your way of life right now, and help me to spread it everywhere I go. In Jesus’ name, amen.”