Well, here we are. We started on June 6th with the letter “A” and the word abide. Twenty-six weeks later we come to the letter “Z” and the word for this week is the word zoetic. As Christians, one way we can allow others to see Christ in us is by having a zoetic, or living relationship with God. The word zoetic simply means “pertaining to life; living or vital”.  There really is no way we can have a growing relationship with Christ, or show Christ to others through our actions and words if we do not have a living relationship with Him.

To see this, we can read in Ephesians 2:4-5 where Paul writes to the church in Ephesus; “But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.” There is the phrase we are looking at for today. We are alive in Christ. We were not always alive in Christ. In fact, Paul said we were dead in our transgressions. Before Christ, we were living in our own desires of fulfilling our own wants. We were dead. We had no hope, which we talked about was so important last week. But now, because of Christ, not only do we have hope, but we have life. We have a life in Christ. He lives within us and gives us that life. It is a life that Christ wants us to live to the fullest, through Him.

I think it is the “living life abundantly” that seems to be so hard to do. It’s hard because it is hard to define. The world would say that living the abundant life is about living a complete life, but what does that mean? Does it mean always being happy? That’s not possible. Does it mean living life where everything works out for us? Again, this is impossible. So what does it mean to have the “abundant life” that Jesus said He came to earth to give? I like what Rev. Robert Jacobs says about having abundant life. He says “Abundant living is a life that is filled with the things that are good for us. A life of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, faithfulness, compassion, humility, enthusiasm, confidence, honesty, a relationship with God. Abundant life is full of those things money can’t buy and all come from God, who is the giver of all good things.” Did you catch it? The abundant life does not come from things around us, it comes from living with and in Christ. When we live in Christ, He can give us abundant living. He gives us a zoetic life.

Ok, you may think I am stretching this zoetic life thing. Maybe so. However, I don’t want you to miss the important part of this article. Christ wants you to have life, and have it in a way that helps us grow in Him and cause others to want to have life in Christ. Not only during the Christmas season, but all year long! Until next week…

Peace and Blessings,

Johnny