Once you have received the gift of salvation, then what? The Word of God tells us, as you have received Jesus, so walk in Him. Receiving the gift was the beginning and from there the gift progresses in four steps. First, we are to be rooted in Christ. Plant every part of your life in Him. The key to growth is to have a good root system; it provides nourishment as well as strength to stand against the wind and stormy weather. Without proper roots, you can’t proceed to the next step.
After you commit every area of your life to the Lord and get those roots in Jesus, you will find things are turning around; you are being built up, growing stronger in the Lord. If you find areas of your life that are not getting better, it could be that the roots need some attention! If you try to keep some of your roots planted in the world, you will not experience the growth in the Lord that He intends for your life.
When you have a good spiritual root system and you find that your life is going in the direction the Lord intends and you have dealt with any artifacts from your old life, then you will find the next phase of this gift of salvation; you will find that you are, more and more each day, established in the faith. The Lord has been with you through some storms and your faith has been tested time and again, and all of this history with God just purifies your faith that much more and establishes your relationship with a faithful, loving Father!
And the result? You get to the most complete blessing of this gift of salvation. Every day, you are so aware of the goodness of God and His presence with you, that you are overflowing with thanksgiving. You begin the day with thanksgiving and you end the day with thanksgiving. You are not just living life, you are living life more abundantly, for you have not only received Jesus, you are walking in Him each step of the way every day!