Yesterday, I shared the beginning of
Mama's Sunday School lesson on how to live an abundant life. (Click here to read part one) Today, I
am sharing part two … pay attention to the last point … it is the
one that really got to me.
3. Sacrifice
John
15:13
“Greater
love hath no man than this,
that
a man lay down his life for his friends.”
One
of the main characteristics of someone who understands what it really
means to live abundantly would be their willingness to lay down their
life for someone else. Of course, Christ is our supreme example of
this, but we can see the importance of this type of attitude in our
own lives. In order to be able to die for someone else, you must be
able to see that they have a need for someone to stand in their
place. This cannot be seen if we are constantly focusing on what we
see as problems in our own lives. If we are content with where we
are, however, we will be able to see the needs of others much more
easily. We can also serve the Lord better when we have a sacrificial
spirit. Someone who is not totally committed to the work of the
Lord, such as to lay down his life for a friend, will have a hard
time doing all that the Lord might call him to do. Consequently, if
we are not doing all that the Lord has called us to do, we are not
really living an abundant life. We must be willing to sacrifice
ourselves to be a blessing to others.
4.
Obedience
2
Kings 4:1-7
“Now
there cried a certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets
unto Elisha, saying, Thy servant my husband is dead; and thou knowest
that thy servant did fear the LORD: and the creditor is come to take
unto him my two sons to be bondmen. And Elisha said unto her, What
shall I do for thee? Tell me, what hast thou in the house? And she
said, Thine handmaid hath not anything in the house, save a pot of
oil. Then he said, Go, borrow thee vessels abroad of all thy
neighbors, even empty vessels; borrow not a few. And when thou art
come in, thou shalt shut the door upon thee and upon thy sons, and
shalt pour out into all those vessels, and thou shalt set aside that
which is full. So she went from him, and shut the door upon her and
upon her sons, who brought the vessels to her; and she poured out.
And it came to pass, when the vessels were full, that she said unto
her son, Bring me yet a vessel. And he said unto her, There is not a
vessel more. And the oil stayed. Then she came and told the man of
God. And he said, Go, sell the oil, and pay thy debt, and live thou
and thy children on the rest.”
The
final point we need to look at is obedience. This is certainly a
common thread that runs through what we have already talked about.
Paul was obedient to the Lord throughout his ministry in all manner
of circumstances. The Lord Jesus was obedient even unto the death of
the cross. Here in this very practical illustration, we have yet one
more example of the connection between obedience and the abundant
life. Here we have a lady who is down to nothing and she is about to
lose even that. Desperation is an appropriate term, I think.
She
cried out to God in search of hope. The reply she received might have
seemed foolish, but that was all she had to go on. She obeyed what
the Lord told her through Elisha. Because of her obedience, the Lord
blessed her. She had an abundant amount of money so that she could
pay the people she owed as well as provide the essentials of life for
herself and her family. Her obedience yielded an abundant life.
How
many blessings do we miss for failure to yield to the command of God?
This woman did not know why she was to fill the jars with oil until
she had finished. Her instructions were given in pieces. How often
do we choose not to obey God because the outcome is not clear or the
instructions seem impossible? Perhaps we have never been in a place such as this woman was in; a place where depending on God was all we had. We
should not wait until we are on the absolute bottom to begin
listening to God. Surely He speaks to us before we get there, we
just can't (or won't) hear Him because we are too busy listening to
the other noise in our world. Perhaps the only way for some to enjoy
the abundant life is to come to a place where they are far too aware
of their need for God's hand to sustain their life. Until we see our
need to obey God in all points, we will have no idea what Christ
meant by us, His children, living abundant lives. John 10:10 will
simply be another verse that we don't see as having any real
application to our lives.
Conclusion
Ecclesiastes
12: 13-14
“Let
us hear the conclusion of the whole matter:
Fear
God, and keep his commandments:
for
this is the whole duty of man.
For
God shall bring every secret thing,
whether
it be good, or whether it be evil.”
These
are only a few points that seem to be a must for a truly abundant
life. There is one final passage of scripture that seems to cover
all areas of life. The last two verses in Ecclesiastes leave no
question about what our lives are to be like. Christ said that we
would have abundant life and Solomon sums up how to do that. Solomon
was the man who had it all. Whatever life had to offer, Solomon had
it. Not only did he have all the material possessions of life, he
also had more wisdom than anyone else. It was his wisdom that
enabled Solomon to see all the material things of life as mere
vanity. To him, they amounted to nothing because they would only be
left behind at death. He was also wise enough to know that his
wisdom was nothing because whether a person is wise or is a fool, both
die the same. What is the point? He wasn't really being negative
about life; he just saw things for what they were. Solomon was a man
who lived an abundant life. He knew that all is in vain if one does
not see the need to fear God and keep His commandments. All that we
do shall be judged one day and no amount of fame or fortune or wisdom will make a difference at that time. Are you prepared to stand before the
Lord on that day? If you are not, you need to be. At that time, you
will be alone. You won't have your husband or wife or mother or
father to help you. You will be responsible for yourself. Be sure
you are ready. Be found living the abundant life that Christ died to
give you when He returns to get you. Claim the promise that has
been made to you!
I hope that these words that my Mama
wrote so many years ago, probably sometime in the mid 90's, have touched your
heart as much as they have mine. Though I didn't read these words
until after Mama died, I watched her live them during her years of
battling cancer. And for that, I will be forever thankful.
No comments:
Post a Comment