What Would It Take?

"I love life!" What would it take to get you to say that? A million dollars? A trip around the world? A date with Miss America or Mr. Universe? A spot on "American Idol"? A little peace and quiet? What would it take?

When someone says they love life, normally that means things are going their way. They are in a pleasant and comfortable situation without any real threats or discomforts. The fact that most people don't find themselves in those kinds of situations very often may well be the reason we don't meet too many folks who say, "I love life!"

It really is kind of sad! We human beings do everything we can to protect and prolong our lives and yet for most of the time we are breathing we consider our quality of life significantly below the "I love life!" standard. Is there a way to live more positively or are we condemned to a "Things are going okay" level of living?

The apostle Peter makes a remarkable statement in a letter he wrote 2000 years ago to a small group of Christians who were undergoing intense persecution for their faith in Jesus Christ. He wrote,

“Whoever would love life and see good days
must keep his tongue from evil and his lips from deceitful speech.
He must turn from evil and do good; he must seek peace and pursue it.
For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous
and his ears are attentive to their prayer,
but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”

What gets our attention is that from what Peter tells us, loving life is not based on having everything go your way, instead it comes from knowing who God is and living as He has commanded. In other words, loving life comes from a relationship with the Lord and not one's situation in life. That's revolutionary! It means that we can be going through some traumatic situation and still love life. Have you ever looked at things that way?

Join us this Sunday (September 26) at 10:00 am. Together let's learn how to love life, no matter what the circumstances are in which we find ourselves.