Surviving vs. Thriving

I have thought much lately over a response I heard from an everyday question. Sitting at my desk at work, I recently heard someone ask a fellow believer “How are you?” Now I know this question is asked and responded to hundreds of times a day, but it was the response that I heard that got me thinking. The response this particular day was “Surviving!” I thought hmmm…that is interesting, and I wondered if maybe that individual was going through a trying time. But come to find out, that is this person’s typical response day in and day out.

This constant response of “Surviving” has really made me sit back and think about how I want to live my life. Do I just want to survive each and every day and walk around just glad to have made it through? Not really, while surviving is a good thing (I certainly would not want the opposite), I hope that my life reflects more than simply surviving…I want to be thriving. I believe Jesus wants the same thing for each of His followers. In fact in John 10:10 Jesus says,

“The thief comes only to steal, kill, and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly!”

It is clearly God’s intent for His children to walk victoriously, but perhaps we work to defeat ourselves by our words, thoughts, and attitudes so that our actions follow suit. My question today is, “Am I walking abundantly in victory or allowing the enemy to destroy my day to the point of just surviving?”

I know, there are periods of life and situations where surviving is the only thing that one can do. BUT day-to-day a follower of Christ can do much more than survive. He or she can walk victoriously through the power of the Holy Spirit. I don’t know about you, but I want an abundant life…a life that testifies to his greatness and power. May He receive ALL glory, and honor and praise for every moment of every day of my life!