I Spy

I spy something green, what do you think it is? I heard a tiny voice shouting back, the grass! Yes, that’s right, now it’s your turn to “spy” something. Our neighbors were playing this game with their twin girls outside on a warm Sunday afternoon and I listened to the progression of the game.  The glee and laughter of the tiny voices brought back similar memories when I played “I spy” with my boys and even further back, with my sisters as we traveled across the country one summer in search of yet another camping site.

The notion of “spying” something assumes that you are looking for something. The great Sherlock Holmes snoops around a crime scene and through his discriminating mind and uncanny observations, Holmes spies the missing piece to a criminal case he is trying to solve. Whether it’s Holmes on the path of a confounding case or a family playing “I Spy…” we’ve known times when it feels as though we have lost something and we set out on a journey to find that missing piece that will bring the wholeness we are seeking.

The scriptural passage that is often quoted in times of seeking and searching comes from John. It is the Johannine passage that defines Jesus as the good shepherd. The phrase that is quoted is at the very end of verse 10 in John 10: “I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.” This statement begs the question, “what is abundant life?” I cannot speak for you for you must spy your own understanding of abundant life, but I will reflect a little on what it means to me.

Abundant life is not a phrase used to convince, persuade, or argue for a reason to be a Christian, but a promise that says that in following the example of Christ, I will know fulfillment even in this life. Abundant life is not about the sweet by and by that will be mine if I am obedient to God’s will, but a promise that says that in following the example of Christ, I will know joy even in the midst of suffering. Abundant life is not a shallow, scriptural response to a searching soul, but a promise that says that God delights in me, just as I am. This is abundant life – it is what I spy in life dedicated to Christian living.

Prayer

God help me to find fulfillment in living as Christ would live, joy, even in the midst of suffering, and help me to delight in you as much as you delight in me. Amen.