The temptation to settle is our greatest enemy. Colossians 3:11 says that “… Christ is all and in all.” All the fullness of deity dwells in Jesus, and because we are in union with Him, His fullness is now ours. (Colossians 2:9 – 10). I love the way the New American Standard Bible puts it; “and in Him, you have been made complete.” If Christ is all (what a huge statement that is) and He who is ALL is in every Christian, then it can be safe to say that we now participate in a very LARGE life. A. B. Simpson wrote a number of books many decades ago, but his most famous book is called “The Larger Christian Life.” It is about the life of Christ being lived out through the Christian, which is the Larger Christian life. This larger Christian life is available to every believer because Christ, who is all, lives inside of every one of us, and therefore we have been made complete by His fullness. What we do with that FULLNESS is totally up to us. If you, as a Christ indwelt person, do not passionately with every molecule of your being long to experience the larger life that Jesus wants to live through you, it is not because you’re satisfied. It is because you have settled. The enemy deceives us into settling for a small life and a small story even though we are in union with all that Christ is. Many Christians feel too exhausted to try to strive for a bigger Christian experience. You don’t have to jump through a bunch of hoops to earn the Larger Christian life. You can earn it to a bunch of spiritual disciplines, and self-denial. It’s too late. He jumped through all the hoops has already accomplished it for you. It is already yours, and Jesus 2000 years ago on your behalf so that He could gift you with Himself and all of His fullness. All you have to do is tell the Holy Spirit that you want to experience THAT life more than anything else in this world. If you do, He will open your eyes to see what’s already yours and enable you to by faith simply receive it the very next step you take, and each step following. Spiritual hunger is one of God’s great gifts to us. Whatever you do, don’t settle and call it being satisfied. You were created for more.
