When I woke up this morning, abundant life entered my mind for several reason. One reason is to appreciate the love of God who gave His only begotten son to die for us so that we might live. Not to just live, but to live abundantly. In his dying He has given us the most abundant life we could ever have. Just think about living in eternity.  

Abundant from a biblical perspective means, exceedingly, very highly, beyond measure, more than enough, etc. According to scripture, Jesus promises us a life better than we could ever imagine. The apostle Paul writes, “But as it is written, eyes hath not seen, nor ears heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.” 1 Corinthians 2:9

Most of us would define abundant to mean material wealth or gain, but in reality, this is not referencing social status, money, expensive cars, big houses, position, prestige, land, yachts, accomplishments, clothes or material things. The abundant life is a life that will be spent in eternity with God. God is not so interested in our physical circumstances as he indicates in Matthew 6:25. Once we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we receive the gift of the Holy Spirit and we are to believe that we already have eternal life. The more we desire God in our lives, the more abundant our lives will be.

All believers should see abundant life as a process in which we grow and mature in our faith. Just imagine knowing that we will see God face to face one day. We will no longer have to worry about temptation and sin.

We are shown in Galatians 5:22-23 that abundant life is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. These we know as the fruit of the Spirit. The good news about the fruit of the Spirit is that no one can take them away from us. I believe all of us would agree that money cannot buy joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, etc. 

Even now in the midst of a pandemic, evil, injustice, sadness, uncertainties, and pain, Jesus wants us to have the best life possible.

There is a difference in abundance and abundant. If we were to be honest with ourselves, we would admit that sometimes a life of abundance is confused with abundant life. We begin to place our interest on stuff and material things. It is easy to become confused about the type of life we wish to live. We concentrate more on worldly possessions than heavenly ones. If we set our minds on things above, we will enjoy our lives differently than other people. We have a choice. We can set our minds on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God or set our minds on things below.   

I love the words of Solomon in Ecclesiastes 5: 10-15: “Those who love money will never have enough. How meaningless to think that wealth brings true happiness! The more you have, the more people come to help you spend it. So what good is wealth- except to watch it slip through your fingers! People who work hard, sleep well, whether they eat little or much. But the rich seldom get a good night’s sleep. There is another serious problem I have seen under the sun. Hoarding riches harms the saver. Money is put into risky investments that turn sour and everything is lost. We all come to the end of our lives as naked and empty-handed as the day we were born. We can’t take our riches with us.”  May we be reminded that there is nothing wrong with having money, for but it is that love of money that is the root of all evil. 

Let’s take a look at Luke 12: 15: “Beware! Guard against every kind of greed. Life is not measured by how much you own.” Luke goes on to tell us that, “Yes, a person is a fool to store up earthly wealth, but not have a rich relationship with God.”                

One commentator puts it this way: If we accumulate wealth only to enrich ourself, with no concern for helping others, we will enter eternity empty- handed.

Seeking the kingdom of God above all else means making Jesus the Lord and king of our life.

Which do we prefer today, abundant life or abundance in life?

Not a sermon, just my thoughts!

Robert E. Slade, Pastor