The Good Life

I was reading a blog that had a quote in it that I thought was awesome. It's from Charles Swindoll's book, Living on the Ragged Edge

“The good life—the one that truly satisfies—exists only when we stop wanting a better one. It is the condition of savoring what is rather than longing for what might be. The itch for things, the lust for more—so brilliantly injected by those who peddle them—is a virus draining our souls of happy contentment. Have you noticed? A man never earns enough. A woman is never beautiful enough. Clothes are never fashionable enough. Cars are never nice enough. Gadgets are never modern enough. Houses are never furnished enough. Food is never fancy enough. Relationships are never romantic enough. Life is never full enough.”

I have said many of those things to myself over the past couple of years. Last night on the way back from work, I passed by a couple who were really well dressed, seemed to be having fun, going into a nice restaurant, driving a Mercedes. As I passed by, I thought to myself, "My flesh really wants that. I want the car. I want the beautiful girl on my arm. I want to have a wardrobe that I'm not ashamed of at times. " But that's just it. It is my flesh that wants it. The world is so enticing. Then I remember that as a believer, I am dead to that! Dead to the incessant wanting and laboring for things that compete with God in my life. Isaiah 55 says:

"Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost. Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy? Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in the richest of fare."

Am I living the good life? Is my soul delighted? At first glance, It's a foreign concept to me. My soul delighted. My mind, my body, my emotions have been delighted, temporarily. My soul? The seat of my emotions? yes, but only by Christ and His love for us.

So I walked on past the Mercedes, the beautiful couple and the nice restaurant, letting the pangs of jealousy and covetousness of the moment pass, asking the Lord's forgiveness and delighting that He has me right where He wants me.