Abundant Living

We have been studying in Sunday School for two weeks the scripture John 10:10, “The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.”  I have heard that scripture plenty of times, but I never really thought about what Jesus meant when he said he came so we might have life and have it more abundandantly.  He came so they we can be saved from our sins and have everlasting life.  He came to give us hope that tomorrow will be a better day and we don’t have to die in our sins.  He came to give us a way out, to give us a promise that if we needed him all we have to do is pray and seek his face.  Jesus came down to earth to be the example for us how to live while we are on this earth.

What is abundant living?  What does it mean to live life to the full?  The definition for the word abundant is something that exist in large quantities or to have plenty of something (www.dictionary.com}.  From the definition of abundant some people believe abundant living is having a lot of material things, but that is not so.  Abundant living is about having the fruits of the spirit love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.  It’s about having some of the characteristics of Jesus such as compassionate, approachable, prayerful, unselfish, forgiving, zealous, humble, and patient to name a few.  It is not just about going through life acquiring things, such as money, cars and houses.  We can have a lot of things and not have the one thing we need a relationship with God who is our anchor.  We need an anchor because the winds of life are sure to start blowing and when we cannot see a way out, we have someone in our corner who we know can make a way out.

Abundant living does not mean you will never have any problems.  It means you have someone in your corner who is a problem solver.  We don’t have to depend on our own understanding of the situation to come up with a solution, but we can put our problem in God’s hand and he can solve it for us.  All we must do is trust God and have faith in him.  When I look back over my life and I see all the things that God has brought me through I cannot help, but have faith in him.  When I was in my twenties he healed me from a kidney infection.  He helped me make it through college.  He helped me raise my children.  He was there for me when my mother died.  I am pretty sure that if you look at your life you will discover that God has protected you from a whole lot of things that could have destroyed you.  This is what abundant living is about having a savior that you can call on when your friends and family are nowhere to be found.  He is the only one who can give you peace amid chaos.  We have a savior who loves us unconditionally.  It does not matter how many times we make a mistake he forgives us and he never brings our mistakes up again.  He loves us so much that he let his only son come down to earth to die for our sins.

Today start letting the love of God change you from the inside out.  That is what abundant living is about letting the word of God change us. Let us not leave this earth without trying to be all God called us to be.  We need to let God’s word change us, mold us and heal us.  When we leave this earth, we should be more loving, more forgiving, more joyful and at peace.  Our problems and issues should not stress us out.  God says that if the birds and the lilies in the field do not worry about what they will eat, why do we worry? Abundant living is not about never having a problem, it is about how we view our problems and if we are going to allow God to solve the problem for us.  It would be a shame to know God and not live life abundantly.  Every day we should be acquiring more attributes of Christ and every day drawing a little closer to God.  Every day we should be enjoying life a little more.

LSW