Excited to explore God’s abundance together this week! The dictionary defines abundance as “existing and available in large quantities; plentiful.” While this definition works in reference to food or resources, it doesn’t come close to capturing God’s abundance.
As the source of all life, God’s abundance means that God is infinite, everlasting, inexhaustible, limitless. In God, with God, and through God, there is more goodness, love, and life than we could ever begin to imagine (Paul described God like this in his letter to the Ephesians, cf. Eph. 3:20). And this will never end or run out. All of God’s attributes are characterized by this abundance: God is abundantly nurturing, abundantly kind, abundantly beautiful, abundantly persistent, abundantly merciful, etc.
God’s abundance means God is always bigger and better and more beautiful than we could ever begin to imagine. Scripture repeatedly illustrates God’s abundance, including Jesus’ own declaration: “I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly” (John 10:10 NRSV). Abundance is at the heart of who God is and how God works.
THE PATH – PRACTICES IN NOTICING
The concept of abundance can easily be confused with excess: “more for the sake of more.” Excess is propelled by greed, while God’s abundance flows from the pure goodness, love, and life at the heart of who God is.
PRACTICE PERSONALLY
In conversation with God, explore how you’ve experienced God’s abundance in your own life. What are you discovering about who God is through your experiences of God’s abundance in your own life?
PRACTICE COMMUNALLY
Engage in a dialogue with others from Platt Park Church about your experiences of God’s abundance. What could others’ experiences teach you about who God is and what God’s abundance looks like?
PRACTICE AS A FAMILY
Discuss what God’s abundance means, particularly in contrast to our culture’s compulsion for excess. As a family, consider how you could more intentionally recognize and honor God’s abundance in your family’s life? How might God be inviting your family to share this abundance with those around you?