The Source of Life

“In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind.”

The opening words penned by John are weighty. Simple, rough, yet incredibly weighty. In a few mere paragraphs, he manages to summarize the eternal culmination of all the plans and promises of God, all the grace and mercy that would be poured out on a broken humanity.

In him was LIFE.

Humans like to look at the end result, not the source.

We see Olympic athletes and marvel at their prowess, forgetting about the years of training that were required before they could stand on that podium, crying at the sound of their national anthem. We see the person who lashes out at others, not seeing the loneliness and hurt in their hearts. We see the woman who has the card declined in front of us in the grocery store, not the medical bills that are piling up on her kitchen table.

We just aren’t very good at finding our way back to the beginning of things.

Everything else is trivial when compared to our ignorance of the source of life. We try to hang on to everything that we think will satisfy, everything that we think will truly make us happy, make us feel like we’re alive. We go to great ends in seeking the source of LIFE. That Instagrammable, absolutely unattainable, Pinterest worthy life that we think will actually bring us joy.

And in our seeking, we completely miss the actual source.

Even earlier than John, the psalmist didn’t miss the source. Psalm 36:9 ecstatically reminds, “For with you is the fountain of life; in your light we see light.”

Our source of life could never be found in anything less than a relationship with the Creator of the universe, our Savior that broke himself on our behalf, and the Spirit of God that leads and guides the human heart. Nothing brings such joy, such peace of mind, such purpose, such satisfaction. Life is worth living simply because of its source.

Lines from a song that was popular when I was in high school (maybe it still is) have been running through my brain for days:

You are the source of life /

And I can’t be left behind /

No one else will do /

I will take hold of you

“Rescue” is such a simple song, yet carries great weight. He is the source of life, and I don’t want to be left behind. I don’t want to miss actual LIFE in search of the mockery we’ve created to take it’s place.

In him was LIFE, and he’s still the source. Chase him.