What life do you want? What is your idea of a good life?

I took a week off this week thanks to Eldie who’s preaching for me this Sunday. My family and I went to Seaside, OR – our favorite vacation spot in the Northwest. In the evening at the hotel, while my kids were in the pool, I sprawled out in the hot tub next to it. It felt so good just sitting there, and I found myself saying, “This is the life!” What more could I ask for in life?

But is that really what life is about? Healthy body. Happy family. No immediate worries. Being able to take vacations?

There is no life apart from Jesus Christ. If Jesus is not in it, it is not only a bad life, it’s NOT life at all. “In him was life, and that life was the light of men.” John 1:4.

If your idea of a good life does not have Jesus at the center, you are mistaken about it being a good life. As a matter of fact, you are mistaken about it being a life at all. It is not. So, imagine all those people who are seeking for a good life apart from Jesus. Whatever they arrive at, whatever gives them the idea that it is good life, isn’t. Apart from Jesus, there is no life.

Life, here, doesn’t mean in a biological sense. But in spiritual and “soulful” sense. Mere existence is no different than an animal. It is Christ who gives us life, for He is the source of life.

So, as Christians, our life should be different not only in quality but in kind. As different as a live cow is different from steak, our lives should be different from the unbelieving. It should be full of hope, joy, and love.

Let us pray that God will sustain us and imbue this kind of life in us.

PH