What is life

     Over the years I have been asked by many, what makes a good life?  So I thought I would pontificate on this thought for a couple of moments.  First, I will give my thoughts on what it is not.  It is not the getting of material things because as the Bible says, the moth can eat, the thief can steal and rust can corrupt.  Recently my wife and I had our roof replaced.  Our home is forty years old and some parts of the roof looked it.  Now we have no illusions we know that in time this brand new roof will eventually become like the old but right now it looks pretty good.   The pursuit of material things will eventually leave you empty and unfulfilled.  Secondly, it is not just about having family and friends.  As good as these maybe they will never fulfill you.  Jesus had a woman come to him in Samaria who had before she met Jesus five husbands.  When she met Jesus she was on number six.  Elizabeth Taylor married 8 times because she was looking for Mr. Right.  Jennifer Aniston who is considered one of the most beautiful women in the world has yet to find Mr. Right.  You will never be totally fulfilled in relationships.   Even religion will not fulfill you, if that was the case than Jesus would not have had to come.  Religion is man reaching up to God.  Codes, mantras, rules, creeds and traditions cannot fill the void of life.

     Life is found in the Lord and Him alone.  Jesus said in John 10:10, “that He had come to give us life abundantly.”  That is a sweet deal.  I can tell you from personal testimony that Jesus is the best life.  Like the old commercial says, “there is no life like it.”  God created life to be wonderful, exciting and fulfilling.  When you try to fill it with your stuff and not His you will live unfulfilled.  When you include the Lord life is exactly as God intended it.  Now I want to make something clear.  Life in the Lord is not always easy because there are lessons and things we need to learn.  Whenever I have found a situation difficult there is a lesson or new skill I have to learn.  Problems and difficulties have made me wiser, more skillful, resourceful and creative.  They have challenged me and made me learn something and I would have never learned before.  That is the grace of God in action.  Life can be stressful and hard because we have three adversaries, the world, the devil and ourselves.  Have you ever heard that we can be our own worst enemy?  Sometimes this is so true.  In all of this we can have the Lord.

     The Bible states in James 1:5, that if we need wisdom we can ask the Lord and He will give it liberally.  Solomon said, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.  Solomon also said that knowledge and understanding come from the Lord.  You need wisdom ask the Lord and He will give it.  Bottom line life is what you make it.  It is choices, decisions and reactions to situations.  The beauty is God is there all the way.  You do not have to face anything alone.  Jesus made a promise in Matt 28:20 that He would never leave or forsake us.  This is a great promise for whatever you face today.