"And Not Much In Between"

In the far northwest panhandle of Texas is a small town by the name of Texline. It had an ostentatious beginning in the late 1800s as a thriving center along a new railroad line. However, a few years after 1923, most of the shops had closed and the town’s population shriveled to less than 400 folks. In 2000, the population was just 511 folks.

The city limits sign in Texline states that it has “a city limits sign at one end, another at the other end, and not much in between.”

Just think – if the same description could be given of our spiritual journey, what a wasted life that would be! The journey of the Christian life on earth begins when one obeys the gospel of Christ (Romans 6:17) and ends when that individual goes to be with the Lord (Ephesians 1:21-23).

This raises an important question: What happens in between?

An "abundant life" is available to all who believe in and serve Jesus (John 10:10). The apostle Paul prayed that obedient disciples would “be filled with all the fullness of God” (Ephesians 3:19). He wanted them to be filled with that “abundant life” that can only come from the Lord. But how many of us experience even a small part of the abundant life Christ promised to those who are faithful to Him?

God desires to give us an abundant life with a marvelous beginning (salvation) and a great ending (heaven) — with “much” in between (Ephesians 3:20-21); cf. Luke 6:38; Malachi 3:10).

Dear reader, let’s be a part of that abundant life today!

—Mike Riley, Gospel Snippets

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