The Problem with Abundant Life
There’s a story about a man walking through a field who found an eagle’s egg lying on the path. He picked it up and placed it in the nest of a prairie chicken. When the eggs hatched, the little eaglet looked around at his brothers and sisters and noticed he didn’t look like them, walk like them, or fly like them.
But since they were all he knew, he just accepted it. One day, a real eagle soared overhead. The eaglet looked up and asked, “What is that?” The chicken beside him said, “That’s an eagle. The most majestic bird in the sky. But don’t even think about it. You’re a chicken, and you’ll always be a chicken.”
That’s what the enemy wants you to believe about your life.
In John 10:10, Jesus gives us both a warning and a promise in the same breath. But before He offers the promise of abundant life, He points to the problem: “The thief comes only to steal, kill, and destroy.”
Most of us love the second half of that verse. We quote it on coffee mugs and refrigerator magnets. But Jesus put the warning first for a reason. He wanted us to know, before you chase the abundant life, understand that someone is chasing you.
The thief has a three-part playbook. First, he steals your fruit. The love, joy, peace, and patience God is growing in you through His Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23) — the enemy wants to rob you of every bit of it. Second, he kills your faith. He whispers lies until you stop believing God is who He says He is. And third, he destroys your testimony. That word destroy means to ruin, to mar. He wants to wreck your witness so that no one ever sees Jesus in you.
Peter put it plainly: “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour” (1 Peter 5:8).
This isn’t a game. We aren’t playing spiritual tiddlywinks. The battle for the soul is real, and it started the moment you said yes to Jesus.
But here’s the good news. The eagle was never a chicken. And you were never meant to live defeated. You are a child of God, and the One who holds tomorrow is already there.
Never forget: “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding; in all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths” (Proverbs 3:5-6).
Stop living like a chicken. You were born to soar.
Keep Looking up!
May God bless your day.
Pastor Rodney
Related devotionals: Why settle for less? · Matthew 11:28 come to Me · What is spiritual warfare?
Want more from Pastor Rodney?
If today’s devotional spoke to your heart, my books carry these same themes deeper. Stories of God moving in ordinary lives, scripture for tired pastors and weary parents, and steady reminders that heaven is closer than you think.