The Good Life

Have you ever asked yourself the question: "I wonder what the good life would be like?"

Usually we would be thinking about how we could make more money, travel more, have a more freed up daily schedule, etc., etc.

Yeah, that sounds like the good life doesn't it?  This sounds especially good when it is -33 outside (which is what it is as I write this!), and we are dreaming of escaping to somewhere with palm trees.

But have you also noticed that sometimes we can long for things that really aren't the most important for our lives?  Our longings can lead us astray, and it's true that what we long for will define what we think is the good life.

The Bible can help us here, because we can find an example of someone who had discovered what the good life is really about.  In Philippians 1:21 Paul writes "For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain."

For Paul, everything in his life was centered around Jesus.  This was his core, his foundation.  Everything seemed to rise from his relationship with Him.  Jesus was so central to Paul's life that even when Paul thought about dying, he was encouraged because he knew that he would be with Jesus then too!

But there is something else that is worthy of note here:  Paul didn't see his relationship with Jesus as some kind of negative sacrifice or that he was "missing out" on something better.  No.  In fact, Paul couldn't think of a better way to live--he saw it all as gain!

Do you think it's possible that this could be true for us as well?  Is it possible that the good life is the one where Jesus is the absolute center of everything in our daily lives? 

This might be hard for some of us to understand how this would look.  But for now, suffice it to say that I believe Jesus just wants to be invited into everything we do, so that He has an opportunity to teach us His ways in the midst of it all. 

Jesus wants to teach us what the good life is all about.  And He is a good teacher! 

For each one that reads this my prayer is simply this:  Jesus---bring it on!

BT