Blog
Another day, another list. Things I hope to accomplish. The usuals top the list: laundry, dishes, meals, school. Then there’s the hopefuls – exercise, write, socialize, dream.
Somehow I never make it to the bottom of the list. Every night I fall into bed with my eyes half-shut hoping to sleep before the alarm wakes me again. And that tattered life, tossed around like the laundry that controls it, dies a little.
“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” John 10:10 (ESV)
Steal. Kill. Destroy. Familiar words? Your life tells a story of things taken. Time stolen. Dreams killed. Impact destroyed. But what’s worse – it’s not just about what is lost. It’s about the reward you’re living without.
Life. Abundantly.
When I read about that life – a life Jesus promised – I want to say, I’m Done!
Done with the substitute life the thief tries to sell as the real thing. Done with okay. Give me blown away.
I WANT MORE. And I should. God made me for more . . . And you, too.
It’s like the time I made a good ole homemade dinner for our couples’ Bible study.
Roast. Mmmm. Carrots and potatoes. Mmmm. Cornbread. Mmmm.
One friend arrived a little late. With his wife out of town, we expected him to jump at the food, but he didn’t. “No thanks,” he said. “I already ate.”
He missed the memo about dinner before study, so he stopped for fast food on the way.
And that’s what we do. We fill our lives with stuff, but not the best stuff. Deep down we know there’s something better. But who has time to look for it? I can’t even juggle the pins I have now . . . And that is where we stop.
No more excuses. THIS you can do. Want more? GET MORE. Here’s how we’re going to do it:
Let’s S.H.A.P.E our lives for abundance:
Sort.
Hone.
Assign.
Prepare.
Expect.
We will work through one letter a week. In the process we’ll follow three steps.
Step one: create space for abundance. Step two: look for abundance. Step three: live abundantly.
YOU CAN DO THIS.
The process is simple and slow enough to add to any life, no matter how stretched. Let God fill what the thief emptied. He so wants to do it.
Just the other day I sat down to feed my baby girl. In an effort to maximize every minute of my life I pulled out my phone to catch up on emails and social stuff. As I flipped through these messages, God shook me. With an urgent but gentle voice he begged, Katy, Stop! I have something better.
Efficient does not always equal effective, God pleaded. Look!
I dropped the phone. And when I did, my baby girl grabbed my finger.
A finger once gripped by something meaningless. Now gripped by life, by love.
This is abundance.
To receive a rich life, you must let go of the scraps. Clear out what clogs up your life. When you organize a drawer or a room or a life, you uncover space you didn’t see before. Order creates space.
Space filled with God’s plan creates hearts stilled by God’s hand.
Copyright © 2021 by Katy McCown @https://katymccown.com/blog/. No part of this article may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from Lifeword.org.