What's The Difference? " Half Full, Half Empty" July 21, 2024

Is the glass half-full or half-empty? Silly question, right? But it really is all about perspective, and this question can tell you a lot about a person’s mindset.

Some people describe that glass as half empty. Those are the pessimists. Others see that glass as being half full. They are optimists. So what does a practical person say, upon looking at the very same glass? “Are you going to drink that?”

In the book of John we see this Gospel event, John doesn’t even admit to the glass being half empty. John said: “They went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing.” (John 21:3) They struck out,and they were getting ready to go home.

They didn't catch anything, and John talks about failure. Was he being a pessimist? Since God teaches that every Word in the Bible is inspired by the Holy Spirit, is God being a pessimist?

How about you, in your life of faith in Christ, are you also a pessimist? Is the glass mostly half-empty when you tell others the story of your life?

and haven’t you been there while a friend is describing something negative that happened & another person pops up with these words, “That’s the story of my life!” They aren’t talking about a glass that’s half-full, are they?

Relating to each other’s suffering is a good thing in many respects. It creates a sort of comradery that strengthens & encourages each other. Knowing that we’re not alone in our struggles is helpful in resisting the temptations to surrender or despair.

But can the glass half-empty seriously be the story of any Christian’s life? We should be careful how “caught up” we get in that sort of viewpoint, because in John also recorded these words of Jesus: “The thief comes only to steal & kill & destroy; I have come that they may have life, & have it to the full. If we come at life from the glass is half-empty viewpoint, Satan may have already stolen our Savior’s promises from us.

Looking at the glass as half-empty can make us deny, the blessings that our Father in heaven offers to you & to me each & every day of our lives.

Jesus was not lying, or even exaggerating, when He said, “I have come that they may have life, & have it to the full.”

If you are looking at your life & honestly see it as only half-full, there’s a sense in which you are rejecting the Words & promises of Christ.

In the Gospel of John is the promise of life given to us by the Son of God, who is our Lord & Savior.

The promise 1st appears in 1:4, “In [the Son of God] was life and the life was the light of men.” In John 14:6 “Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life.’”

So in John 6: 5 He called out to them, “Friends, haven’t you any fish?”is that Jesus is rubbing in the fact that His disciples failed to catch a single fish. In today’s language we might say Jesus is throwing His disciples under the bus. It’s generally thought of as not a very nice thing to do. So why would Jesus do it,

Jesus is highlighting the failure of the disciples to catch any fish. Since He’s God, it’s difficult to believe that Jesus is being a pessimist. Since He willingly died for us, it’s not likely He’d throw other people under the bus just to make Himself feel better.

People see the glass as half-empty because they are used to accepting defeat and quickly jump to a conclusion.

I believe the one reason so many people, Democrats & Republicans, are afraid of Donald Trump. If he’s elected, they can’t trust him to cover up their sin. He might even rat them out & expose their corruption.

Our world and the government system is so corrupt because people in this world are no longer depending on Jesus for life.

That is the main point that John revolves around. When Jesus enters the scene and His disciples heed His voice, we see these fisherman overwhelmed with God’s abundant supply.

By the word of His voice, Jesus brings about transition and change in the lives of those who listen to and obey, His Words.

Yes, there is no such thing as heaven on earth, but there is life, & that is life as God defines it, creates it & blesses it. As Jesus spent 40 days & nights fasting in the wilderness, Satan tempts Him with the premise that food is life. The devil suggests that Jesus turn stones into bread so He can eat, & have life.

Jesus’ godly reply is that man does not live by bread alone. Instead, man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord. So as the disciples listen to the words of Jesus, “Cast the net on the right side of the boat, & you will find some,” when they do it, “they were not able to haul it in, because of the quantity of fish.”[2]