HIS WORDS

“If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.” John 13:17

The Good Life

HIS EXAMPLE TO US

It has always been God’s intent to bless His people. Everything He created was declared to be “good.” As far back as Genesis 1:28, God blessed man. The Bible is full of references to God blessing man. He blessed man just because He wanted to—it brought Him pleasure to do so.

Eventually, some of the blessings became conditional. If you, man, will obey Me, then I, God, will bless you. Other blessings, by His pure mercy, were unconditional: It rains on the just and the unjust. The sun rises daily for us all. Some wicked people are given great riches. We are allowed to live another day.

Blessings, by definition, are happinesses and special joys. Literally, to be blessed is to be in a condition in which congratulations are in order. Can we say that our lives are in that condition?

MY STORY

One of the problems I had in fully giving myself over to God was worrying I would miss out on the good life. Friends and co-workers fed me a constant diet of “Grab all the gusto you can,” and, “You only live once,” and, “I’m going to live however I want, and at the last moment, I’ll confess Christ with my mouth and be saved. After all, remember the thief on the cross….”

MY RESPONSE

I had a wrong perception of God, of Who He is, of His essence, nature, and attributes. I wrongly thought God would keep me from fun, from friends, from being satisfied. I didn’t get the whole idea of His desire to bless us. When I came to understand His intentions towards me, everything changed.

No longer do I fear missing the good life when I deny myself pleasures of the flesh. It is the rebellious, the deluded, who say I’m missing out. Hear the Word of the Lord in Jeremiah 5:24-25: “They do not say in their heart, ‘Let us now fear the LORD our God, Who gives rain…’ Your iniquities have turned these things away. And your sins have withheld good from you.” It is not my commitment to obey the Father that will cause me to miss the good life. It is only my sins that will turn away God’s blessings.

God is for us. And if God is for us, who can take His blessings from us?

MY PRAYER

“To You, Father, Who loves us and gave us Your Son to atone for our sins, and gave Your Holy Spirit as a seal that we belong to You, we now commit our lives afresh. Reveal Yourself to us, that we may know Your goodness and blessings, and have the abundant, blessed life that You long to give. We pray in the Name that is blessed forever. Amen.”