Last week I shared the story about how my mom sent me a scrapbook that contained her hand-written note “Denny accepted Jesus as savior.”
It was dated September 1972. I was 4 years old.
So as I complete the 50th year of my life with Jesus, I thought it would be appropriate to share some lessons that I’ve learned over those 50 years.
What you do with these lessons is, of course, up to you. But I think you’ll find them insightful.
I had planned to write something today… but I got interrupted my my Aunt-in-law. I think it’s a Holy Spirit interruption and she was a blessed unwitting tool in His hands.
After 50 years of walking with Jesus, I’ve come to think a lot about “what is the good life?”
How do we find it?
How do we live it?
How do we hang on to it?
In culture the “good life” is often defined by having the right stuff, going to the right places or orienting one’s life around “enjoyment”.
Don’t get me wrong, these are not bad things. As I’ve grown older and my finances have allowed, I’ve chosen to incorporate some of these principles into my life.
In moderation.
But I would never say that they are the foundation of a “good life”. They are enjoyable. But they are not what brings satisfaction or fulfillment.
And then my aunt-in-law dropped in for a weekend visit.
We don’t see her often but we do enjoy it when we can. She lives a few states away and is generally tied up with what’s going on in her life. But she had a chance to come to Arizona, and we got to be her hotel for the trip.
As we started sharing, while eating meals and sitting around the family room, just catching up, one theme dominated her stories.
Her life oriented around her faith.
Her friends were friends from church. She was connected to people through Bible studies she did on Zoom to stay in touch with them. Over and over again, no matter where she lived, these stories and these relationships were formed and showed up.
We bought her I Will Sing of My Redeemer because she loves the old hymns, and how they speak to her. She gushed about the book to us and bemoaned the loss of the great hymns as a medium of worship in churches today. There is so much truth in these old hymns about what makes a truly Good Life.
My Aunt-in-law is not rich financially. But that doesn’t matter. She lives a rich life, fueled by the centrality of the gospel and her connections through church.
Just to really make a point, I could contrast her to my Uncle-in-law, her brother. He is the exact opposite to her in so many ways. Financially, politically, etc. But when we gather, he talks about his church experiences regularly too.
(There’s a deeper lesson in here about the legacy of my Grandfather-in-law, Papa, and the impact he made on his family – but I’ll save that for another email).
After 50 years with Jesus, I think I’ve learned a bit about the Good Life. It’s only found in Him. It’s only found where He is found. A life oriented around Him, grounded in worship, fortified through the teaching of Scripture, bathed in prayer.
If you want the Good Life with Jesus, you can’t just “pour your faith over” yourself. Let it filter into a few cracks between the things that fill up your life. That is inadequate. It will not have the desired effect.
The Good Life happens when we build our lives around the Good One. When we lean into Him and His people. When we commit deeply and unreservedly to the Church – of which He is the head – and the opportunities it presents to us.
I see this so clearly in the life of my Aunt-in-law. It’s how I want to live my life, and how I have structured things almost all of my life. It’s a function of daily and weekly decisions made again and again.
I want to build my life around the things that matter, and then pour everything else over the top to fill in the cracks where it can. Apart from this, I don’t believe we can have a chance at the Good Live.
Sure we can have fun experiences, enjoyable interactions and luxurious accommodations. But that will leave our souls empty and far from “good”.
I think that a good church is the cornerstone of the good life. I don’t know what experiences you’ve had in church, but I encourage you to find one and lean into it. This is where you’ll find all the ingredients to make your own good life.
I’m grateful to my Aunt-in-law for making this so obvious to me this weekend. And I hope it encourages you.
Until next week and another lesson…
Dennis
