zoe

John 11:21-27
Martha then said to Jesus, "Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died. "Even now I know that whatever You ask of God, God will give You." Jesus *said to her, "Your brother will rise again." Martha *said to Him, "I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day." Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?"

This was today's blow drying verse.
Hmmm? That needs explanation?
Well, since blow drying my hair is something I do every day, I put a box of Scripture verses by the blowdryer and I try to read one while drying. Consistency takes ingenuity. I am a dumb sheep.

Anyhow, at Bible study this morning (7 of us meet at 7:30 am on Saturdays...yes, really...) we were introduced to the word "zoe" which is one of the Greek words for life. "One word, bios, describes mere existence -- to be alive. The other word, zoe, means the essence of life or the fullness of life. In Philippians 1:21 Paul relates, "for to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain." And that "live" is implying the zoe life. The fullness of life. (How to develop a Quiet time, p 42)

So later, while blow drying, I read the John 11 passage copied above. I looked it up, and Christ says he is the resurrection and the life...zoe. I looked up zoe in the "lexical aids to the New Testament," and the definition is: "life, referring to the principle of life in the spirit and soul. Distinguished from bios, physical life, livelihood, of which zoe is the nobler word expressing all of the highest and best which Christ is and which He gives to the saints. The highest blessedness of the creature." The definition uses John 14:6 and 1 John 1:2 as examples.

SO... I want ZOE! John 10:10 has been an often prayer of mine: Lord...I want the life -- the abundant life of John 10:10. (I often *remind* God of His promises in prayer...not that HE needs the reminder...just the dumb sheep needs it!) And now that verse has richer meaning: ZOE life. The highest and best which Christ is and gives to the saints. The highest blessedness of the creature. That's what He came to give us!

There is a zoe shaped longing in each of us. We long for Eden, for that idyllic relationship with Christ. We just don't recognize it as such. So many times we try to satisfy that longing...looking for love in all the wrong places. We simply need to seek ZOE.

I am going to add ZOE to my prayer list -- for myself and others. It is literally ALL we need. We may have to die to a lot of things to live the Christian life, but if we end up with the "highest blessedness of the creature," will we ultimately miss any of the things we are called to deny ourselves? Maybe that's what it means in John 11: he who believes in Me shall live even if he dies.