Monday, June 23, 2014

The Good Life

"What must you have in order for your life to be good?"

Stop for just a minute and think about that...

I've put a lot of thought into this recently.
Except for my husband and children, there is really no tangible thing that I can honestly say I would suffer to live without. Granted, there are other people (such as my parents and dear friends and other relatives) who I depend on and who bring me great joy. The loss of any of these would be tragic and I would certainly mourn their passing, but I would recover. The rest of my life would not be "bad" because of that loss. Obviously, the loss of a job, house, car, etc. would put stress and pressure on me, but again, would not cause the rest of my life to be "bad".

I never much thought about it until 2 weeks ago when the question was presented in our Sunday School lesson.

Ahhhh....that changes everything.

I will be honest and say that my FIRST thought upon reading the question in my Sunday School book was "Well I must have Christ of course! (DUH!!!)"...but then I had to question my answer. Is that true? Do I really believe that I only need Christ?

The first commandment says "have no other gods before me."  Few would claim to put something before God, yet to limit this command to putting others BEFORE God is to misunderstand the commandment.

God is not to be the most important of many.

God is to be the ONLY god.


I had to pick apart my  thoughts and feelings about those I love in order to feel certain that I had this right before I dare write about it.

I had to sort through the people and things that I hold dear and determine how losing them would affect me. In the end, only losing my husband or my children would cause me to question my reason for living.

BUT, should they be taken from me, I know that my Savior would give me my next breath and every breath thereafter until He takes me home.

There are things that I don't want to lose. There are people who I cannot bear the thought of losing. Even so, I know that with Christ, I can face any amount of loss.

Would it be easy? Of course not.

Without Christ and the promise of heaven, it would be impossible.

So, back to the question, "What must you have in order for life to be good?"

After much soul searching, I can honestly say that I must have Christ in order for life to be good. Knowing Christ makes "the good life" better, the hard times bearable, and gives me the courage to face the truly bad times.

While I cannot imagine facing one day without my husband or my children, I know that, with God, I could.

Often times people view the Commandments of God to be restricting. While we may think that God is being unfair in commanding us to have no other gods, when we really stop and sort through the people (and things) in our lives, there is not one of them who can TRULY make life good after the loss of what we treasure most. Only God has the power to give hope to the hopeless, to give peace and comfort to those who mourn, and to heal the broken.

Only God deserves to be God.



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