WHEN DOES ABUNDANT LIFE BEGIN?
by Christine Wyrtzen
The children of men drink their fill of the abundance of Your house. You give them to drink of the river of Your delights. Psalm 36:8
God offers me abundance. Delightful abundance. But you might be wondering, "How come I don't have it yet?" The promise is predicated upon admissions of need and my understanding of what abundance really is. For example, to receive forgiveness, I must admit that I've sinned. To receive salvation, I must agree with God that I'm desperately lost. To receive wisdom, I must acknowledge my foolishness.
Spiritual bankruptcy is foundational if I want to experience God's promise of prosperity, abundance, and well-being. He explained it to the Pharisees in the language of spiritual blindness. They were contesting every claim He had ever made. They were denying having any need of Him. Jesus told them this ~ If you claim to see, then you will remain blind. But if you know you're blind, I will give you spiritual sight. When I deny my need of Him, I deny myself the benefits that come with that relationship. And I can be sure that I don't even control my unbelief. Satan sees my arrogance and considers it an open invitation to set up a stronghold in every place where I think I'm okay. Unbelief metastasizes.
Each of us probably knows the saying, 'Each man has his blind spots.' A blind spot is any place where a person fails to admit their vision is skewed. They can even be eloquent in their defense. Any of us who have tried to argue with someone in the area of their blindness knows the utter frustration of going round and round and getting nowhere. This is what Paul refers to in 2 Cor. 10:4-5 when he describes 'every lofty thought that sets itself up against the truth of God.' It's their man-made logic, a kind of iron grid, that is only defeated with the sword of the Spirit tearing down the stronghold of deception.
When the sun rises, I remember that I am a child in the kingdom. No matter my age, I am still small before God. No matter my accumulation of knowledge, I still need the renewed mind that only He can fashion. Abundant life is never where I think it's going to be. Narrow is the way that leads there and few there be that discover where abundant begins.
Search my heart. Shine your light on my blind spots so that I may truly see and live in the abundance of Your divine life. I want to feel the river of Your delights around my feet. In Jesus' name, amen.
For more from Christine Wyrtzen and Jaime Wyrtzen Lauze, please visit www.daughtersofpromise.org
Originally published Monday, 01 February 2021.
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