The Bible tells us that in Christ, we have an abundant life available and actually waiting for us.
This kind of life is the best one there is -- it's life how God designed it to be.
If we want to live the life that God wants for us, we've got to follow His instructions for living.
Do you want to live the life that God has prepared for you? If you do, here are some things you'll need.
An abundant life
Here are three important things we need to live the life God wants for us:
1) Submission to the Lord Jesus Christ
The Lord Jesus said He came "that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly" (see John 10:10). There's only one way to get the right to receive that kind of life, though:
By repenting and submitting to Jesus Christ, making Him the Lord of our lives.
Ephesians 1:3 tells us that in Christ, we're blessed with all the blessings for the abundant life that Jesus promised:
"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ..."
The only way for us to receive these blessings is by submitting to the Lordship of the Lord Jesus Christ.
2) Obedience to the Lord Jesus Christ
Next, we've got to obey the Lord Jesus. If we want the abundant life He promises, we've got to obey His commandments.
The abundant life that God promises is not always one that's rich with money. Fact is, money is something we should learn to subdue as we submit to the Lord Jesus Christ. He Himself said it in Matthew 6:24,
"No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon."
Now that we've got that sorted out, we've got to learn to deny ourselves and follow the Lord Jesus Christ:
"If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it." (see Matthew 16:24-25)
Following the Lord Jesus Christ requires that we obey His words. This is proof of our submission and love to Him:
"If you love Me, keep My commandments." (John 14:15)
As we obey Him, we're assured of success in God's will. Joshua 1:8 tells us,
"This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success."
3) Fellowship with the Holy Spirit
The life that God wants for us is a life lived in the power of the Holy Spirit, not the flesh. As such, we've got to have fellowship with the Holy Spirit of God.
The great thing here is that the Holy Spirit lives in all who believe in Christ and have submitted to His Lordship:
"In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory." (Ephesians 1:13-14)
There's freedom for all who live in the Spirit of God, as made available to us by Christ Jesus after His death and resurrection. Romans 8:2-6 tells us,
"For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace."
Such is the life that God wants for us: a life focused on His goodness and love, and a life geared towards Christ-likeness.
As God's children, we ought to live a life pleasing to Him. This we do in faith, as we follow the Lord Jesus Christ.
