I stepped into my friend's home and was immediately struck by the clutter. It was clean clutter, but clutter nonetheless. Every square inch of her walls was covered with pictures, shelves, nic-nacs, wall hangings. There was barely enough room to walk around the lavish furnishings of tables, and plant stands, china cabinets, afghan covered wing-back chairs, woven baskets loaded with the latest coffee table books. I could not focus long on our conversation what with all the distractions around me. I can't begin to judge this dear sister in Christ for her interior decorating style, but I instantly recognized a spiritual application in contrasts to what Jesus said about the abundant life.

He said, "I came that they may have life and have it abundantly." I love Jesus' precision in choosing His words. It is abundant LIFE that He came to give us. The abundant life is more than material possessions, money, fabulous experiences or even extraordinary achievements. Abundance in the language of heaven includes the unseen, intangible, and indescribable riches that moths cannot get at, rust cannot rot, nor thieves steal. This abundance is "The blessedness of possessing nothing" that A.W. Tozer speaks about in his book The Pursuit of God. Our gracious and generous Lord has met all our needs from His riches in glory and He will not withhold any good thing from us. But if our lives are cluttered with the material and the physical, we tend to focus on them rather than on the Giver of them.

How blessed it is to possess nothing, or in other words, that nothing, save the LORD, possess us. I believe that is the thought Jesus had when He said I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. I believe Jesus' desire for us is that we celebrate daily the unseen fortune that has been given to every believer in Jesus Christ. There is a saying: The richest people are not those who have the most, but those who need the least. What liberty it is to travel light through this life. Peace, joy, hope, truth, wisdom, strength, comfort, compassion, love, and faith are the most treasured possessions of a disciple of Christ. They don't weigh an ounce, they don't need bigger barns to store them. We do not have to make monthly payments on them. They increase in value each day. We do not have to pack them and load them up in U-Haul's when we move around. Yet they are the adornments of the abundant life. The abundant life is not a cluttered life, but a full and complete life, which cannot be bought or stolen.

Karen DeHerrera is a retired school teacher, mother of two boys and stepmother of two boys. She has been married to a wonderful man for over 15 years and enjoys reading and studying the Bible, taking long walks with her boxer dog, crocheting ponchos and writing little books with spiritual and uplifting encouragement.

Karen is owner of http://www.stuffatdeez.com where she sells educational toys, and http://www.madewithlovecrafts.com where she sells gifts, flowers and candy.