Are you surviving in your walk with God or are you thriving? There is a huge difference between these two. Surviving is about duty, whereas thriving is about delighting in what God is doing around us, but most of all what He is doing in us. It is very difficult to live a Christian life if you have melted it down to a list of what to do and what to avoid.
How does a Christian go from the joy they experience at salvation to a mode of survival?
First, as they are beginning to start this new life, they have a quest to know God. They set a time when they will meet with Him each day and at first it is a joy. After a while, it becomes nothing more than a habit. Soon they are reading but not comprehending, and then lack of comprehension leads to a lack of understanding and putting into action what they have learned. Soon their bible study is nothing more than reading a page or two and checking the box. Once they have stopped studying the word, it is not long until they stop reading. Survival mode sets in. They do enough to appease their conscience and move on. They never progressed from the milk of the word to the meat of the word. They are as the writer of Hebrews talks about in Hebrews 5:13-14.
Hebrews 5:13-14 “For everyone that uses milk is unskillful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe. But strong meat belonged to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.”
Second, their prayer life starts out with joy and thankfulness because God has saved their soul from Hell. Soon that too becomes common. Without feeding on His word, we cannot get to know Him. This was hindered when their study became reading as a ritual. This leads to a prayer time that is not connected with God. Their prayer time is in survival mode. The habit is still enforced, but there is no life within it. They are like the Pharisee who prayed in Luke 18:10-13, he was proud and wanted everyone to know what a good person he was. If we want to thrive, we must be as the Publican. He was humble and understood the blessings he had received as a child of God. His life was not about Him but about God.
Luke 18:10-13 “Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess. And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner.”
Third, when they were first saved, they could not wait to tell others what Jesus had done in their life. They felt freedom like never before as they lived free from the condemnation that sin brought upon their lives. Because they had stopped studying and applying God’s word, they were timid and afraid someone would ask a question they could not answer. Because they had stopped praying they kicked into survival mode and instead of talking about Jesus to lost people, they talked about their church. Their conversation went from asking people if they had a relationship with Jesus to inviting them to church. While there are times when asking people to church is a good way to gain an opportunity to talk about spiritual things, most often it is a way to witness without discomfort. This testimony is surviving not thriving. In Matthew 28:19-20, Jesus commands all Christians to go and tell, then we are to make disciples by teaching them about Him.
Matthew 28:19-20 “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
Where do you fit in your quest to thrive? Do you find yourself going through the motions or are you excited to be with other believers and worship God? Do you love your time alone with the Lord to study and pray or has it become a routine that is fruitless? Maybe you have been in survival mode so long you have stopped studying, praying, and witnessing. The wonderful thing about having a relationship with our Lord and Savior is that He loves us enough to forgive and help us grow. In I John 1:9 “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” He is always ready to hear a prayer of repentance. It is time we all examined our lives and determined we will not settle just to survive, but we will have a passion to thrive.
