Two Bible verses, 1 Corinthians 15:58 and John 15:4, focus specifically on the action words “abound” and “abide.” These words are key to understanding how we go about doing the work God has given us to do in this life.

There is a tension between these two actions, abounding and abiding, with which we, as followers of Christ, must continually wrestle. To do both is difficult. But, we can manage the tension by observing how Jesus managed it, as well as understanding that we will always have this tension, are responsible for managing it, can become experts at assessing how we are doing, and placing structures or practices in our lives to help us continue to abide and abound.

We can assess how we are doing by rating ourselves periodically on indicators of destructive hurry and using a practical assessment tool to evaluate the abiding-abounding factor in our lives. We can also arrange our lives around a few basic practices. When we do these things, God will one day commend us for tackling this tension and doing His work wholeheartedly.