John 10:10

"The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly."

Pastor Lincoln spoke on this verse today, and it really resonated with me. He illustrated it using a dog and his bone. A dog takes a bone with some meat on it and buries it. Weeks later, he digs it up and it stinks, but he wants to eat it because it is his bone! You know that the bone isn't good for him because it stinks and has molded meat on it. Instead, you want to give him a piece of fresh steak, but he is unsure about giving up his bone.

We shouldn't settle for less than everything God wants for us! We shouldn't settle for the stinky molding bone, when we can have fresh steak. God knows what is best for me, and he knows what is in store for me. There are so many times when I have wanted a relationship to work out, or to be healed immediately, or to get the raise, or the car, but looking back I know those weren't good for me. I shouldn't settle for what I think is best. Satan knows what my desires are, and he knows what is going to "get me" the most. He knows how to tempt me and to make me settle for things that I shouldn't. Christ on the other hand wants me to have life, in fact, abundant life! He doesn't want me to settle for anything, but to have the best of everything. I should expect better of myself, and God can make me better. Jesus wants to make me better than I could ever make myself.