A couple of years ago, I was watching the news when Captain Sullenberger successfully landed a jet airplane in the Hudson River. All 155 passengers survived. It’s known as “The Miracle on the Hudson.” A reporter asked one of the passengers, a man who had just been rescued, what he thought about it all. He was soaking wet, freezing cold and a little bit frazzled, but he had this incredible glow about him and an excitement in his voice. I’ll never forget what he said. He told the reporter, “I was alive before, but now I’m really alive.”

My question to you today is, “Are you really alive?” Are you passionate about the life God has given you? Do you get up every morning with enthusiasm, pursuing your dreams? Or are you stuck in a rut, going through the motions, letting the pressures of life weigh you down? No, God doesn’t want you to just be alive, just exist or just endure. He wants you to be really alive. You have seeds of greatness on the inside. There is something more for you to accomplish. The day you quit being excited about your future is the day you quit living. The day you quit being passionate about what’s in front of you is the day you go from living to merely existing.

In the natural, there may not be anything exciting in your future. When you look out, you may see just more of the same. But that’s when you have to dig your heels in and say like David, “This is another day the Lord has made. I refuse to drag through it with no passion. I am grateful that I’m alive. I’m grateful that I can breathe without pain. I’m grateful that I have a family. I’m grateful that I wasn’t harmed in that accident. I’m not just alive; I’m really alive.”

Today, stir yourself up by focusing on the promises of God in His Word. Refuse to get stuck in a rut. Start by praising and thanking God for all He’s done in your life, and all He will do in your future. Remember, the Word of God is alive, and the more you meditate on His Word, the more His abundant life will flow through you. Quit striving, quit existing, and start really living!

The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly (John 10:10, NKJV).