Story by: Scotty Gray.
What a joke that is. Of course, as Christians, we’re called to do our best, and living our best could be interpreted as such, but the problem is that, when people use that phrase, “live your best life now,” they’re not talking about being a warrior for God’s truth, they’re talking about being a spiritual “couch potato”, using their gifts and talents, not to glorify Him or lift up others, but to glorify themselves and rise higher in worldly things. According to the Best Life Now BLN “theology,” God not only wants us to be “healthy and wealthy,” but it is proof that we are within His will. Nothing like a little Old Testament living… Life good – you’re living as you should. Life bad – God is mad.
Job is one example. Job was a prosperous, wealthy man. Satan challenges God to test whether Job’s piety is rooted merely in his prosperity. Faced with the incomprehensible loss of his 10 children, all his possessions, his health, suffering from terrible sores, and finally his wife cursing him, telling him he should renounce God, give up and just die, Job still refuses to curse and blame God.
The BLN trap was what caused God’s own chosen people to fall away from him, rely on their own strength and use worldly prosperity as the barometer of how favored they were by God. Time and time again, God had to step back and say, “ok, since you’ve got this all figured out, I’ll just get out of your way and let you handle it.” In the words of clinical psychologist, Doctor Phil, God could then ask, “how’s that workin’ for ya?”
Fellow children of God, if even the very best this world has to offer could be our best life, it’s a pretty sad commentary. I remember the story of when John D Rockefeller Senior, one of the richest men in history, was asked how much money it takes to make a man happy. Rockefeller’s famous reply was, “just a little bit more.”
You see, wealth is like a drug; the more you have, the more you need to stay satisfied. The actor Robin Williams; had wealth and fame beyond what many could even comprehend. he was considered one of the icons of acting and comedy. Yet he suffered from major depression, substance abuse including alcohol addiction, relationship troubles, and financial problems. Was a history of fame and fortune enough? Obviously not, for at what many would consider the young age of 63, Williams committed suicide.
Conversely, when my now 26-year-old daughter was about fifteen, she was doing her homework in the kitchen of our modest 1,100 square foot home. She paused for a moment, looked around and commented, “you know, our house is kind of small, but it’s big enough for us.” Smart kid back then – still is.
So, you see, happiness will never be about how much stuff we have, but where we have our stuff. Matthew 6-verse 21 says, “where your heart is, there your treasure will be also.”
…and if you ever start feeling like your life is empty, go out and volunteer for something – you’d be amazed at how talented, how valued, how blessed, and how rich you are.
So, do your best in this life. Glorify God and lift others up as you prepare to go to your best life, forever.
My real-life brother, Scotty, is a DJ at the Q90 FM Christian radio station in Green Bay Wisconsin.
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