More.  It's such a common word.  If you listen closely, you'll hear it nearly every day, all around you.  It's nervously uttered by the young man on Friday night as he talks with his date: "The more time I spend with you, the more I like you."  It's invoked by the student who asks for mercy from the teacher over an unfulfilled assignment: "I just need a little more time."  It's the driving force behind the tireless efforts of the politician that craves more and more support.  It's used by the elderly woman out of frustration, explaining to the doctor, "I just keep experiencing more pain."  She has grown more and more worried about her condition.

        In simplest of terms, it means a greater or additional quantity, number, degree, or amount.  And yet, as illustrated by the above statements, it is hard to measure.  How much is enough?  How much more?  We use the word so frequently that perhaps it has lost some of its potency.

        However, more should be one of the greatest and most heartfelt words in the vocabulary of the disciple of Christ.  That is what the disciples of the New Testament were desperate for–MORE!  They had witnessed never-before-seen, never-to-be-forgotten things.  They had seen Jesus give sight to the blind.  They had listened as Jesus spoke the first audible words to those who had been deaf just minutes before.  They had rejoiced when demons fled at His authoritative command.  They had shared with Him in feeding more than five thousand people with five loaves and two fish.  They had cried out in fear when Jesus walked on the water in the midst of a storm.  They had felt the sting of rebuke when Jesus commanded the howling winds and crashing waves of Galilee to be still, and then questioned the measure of their faith.  They had been been awe-struck when Jesus proved His claim to be the resurrection and the life by raising Lazarus from the dead.

        They had become fully convinced that Jesus of Nazareth was indeed the Messiah, the fulfillment of the Law and the Prophets, the Redeemer of Israel, the Son of God.  And they were desperate for MORE!   More of His time, more of His thoughts, more of His teaching, more of Him!

        May I suggest that such is a worthy goal for all disciples of Christ, even two thousand years later?  We must diligently guard against growing calloused or bored by the story of our Savior.  There is not a man or woman on the planet that will ever outgrow or mature beyond the simple chronicles of the Christ.  We sing "More About Jesus" on Sunday.  Do we mean it on Monday? 

        I hope to use this section of ThingsHopedFor.org for a deep examination of this powerful little word and its import for our lives as students of the Master Teacher.  He is calling for us to actively seek more than just enough to escape the punishment of hell; more than just enough to call ourselves Christians; more than just enough to squeeze through the gates of heaven.

        What is keeping you from making your life and the opportunities God has granted you all about seeking more than what the average disciple of Christ seems to settle for; more than just the bare minimum that your Creator has to offer; more of everything that God wants to give you?  After all, the Spirit of God used this little word as well in communicating through Paul to the Christians in Ephesus:

Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever.  Amen" (Ephesians 3:20-21).

        I hope you enjoy the journey.

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