The Abundant Life

In John 10:10, Jesus declares that He came that we "may have life and have it abundantly". It is God's desire that we would not simply live, but that we would live abundantly.

The word "abundantly" in the greek is Perissos, and it means (in the simplest terms) over and above/more than necessary. Basically, what God desires for us is that our life would have a marked distinction from the world around us - a distinction that would cause others not only to take notice (Acts 17:6), but actually begin to long for it themselves. If we want to become relevant to the people around us, we actually need to become detached from the culture we live in and begin to walk in the Kingdom culture that Jesus modeled for us while He was on the earth, and has empowered us for today.  

Once someone begins to long for something, they will go to someone who has it. It is interesting to me that when Jesus was on the earth, whenever people wanted something it seems that they came to Him. Now to be sure, if you want something you wouldn't go to someone who doesn't have what you are looking for - rather you would go to someone who has the thing you are after (because people can only give what they have). What is also interesting is that Jesus (the one who had no place to lay His head - Lk. 9:58) actually met the needs of anyone who was genuinely seeking Him. So awesome!

As I have meditated on the abundant life I have come to realize a few things: The responsibility behind us living in abundance is to bring others along (Mk. 2:14). And the privilege of living in abundance is found in the blessing of giving that others would become rich (2 Cor. 8:9).

The abundant life is not only abundant in it's receiving, but also in it's giving and serving. It can be compared to "overflow", in which the continual pouring in actually necessitates a continual pouring out. Learning to live in the abundance that God purposes for our lives requires that we understand the "freeness" of the kingdom - in which we freely receive from God what He wants us to have, and we also freely give what we have for His glory (Mt. 10:8b).

Know this: regardless of the material possessions you have, in Christ you are rich beyond imagination (Rev. 2:9). And because you are rich in Christ, you have the means to make others rich in Him as well - all it takes is an understanding of the abundant life and then living from the place of overflow.


Here's a few questions that I ask myself:
*What areas of my life am I not receiving freely the abundance God has for me?
*What are the areas in my life that I am freely receiving God's abundance, but need to steward better in freely giving it?

Be Blessed!

Andrew