Living Well

The more I live, the more I see, the more I experience, I ask myself, "How do I live well?"; "How do I age well?" Last week I attended the celebration of life service of a 96 year old  Christian man, Ancel Highstrom. Here was an example of one who lived well. He fought in atrocious battles of World War II in Italy and earned many medals of valor. But what stands out most in my mind about Ancel is when he came home from the war.  He resolved to be faithful to God, to his family and to live life to the fullest as a way of honoring his comrades who had lost their lives. They no longer had the privilege of living out their days, so by enjoying life to the full, Ancel honored them. He also honored God.

The Word of God is full of stories and lessons on how to live well. Jesus said that he came that we might live an abundant life. Also, 2 Corinthians 5: 15-21 says " and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised... Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.  All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation;  that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us." Our salvation through Jesus Christ gives us new life, new purpose and new ministry.

What does it really mean to live well? As Christ changes us, we can truly represent Him as ambassadors. We no longer live for ourselves and we can speak in ways that contribute to God's purposes in others' lives as well as our own. Paul David Tripp writes in the book, War of Words,  "every sinner has the desire to be God and to have the world operate according to his or her pleasure and will. Jesus lived, died, and was raised again to break our bondage to this idol." This gives a greater purpose to all that we communicate. Tripp writes, "Yes, we want to solve the horizontal, earthly problems in our lives, but we want more than that. Human problems are opportunities God can use to draw the people around us into a fuller and deeper fellowship with him. This higher agenda is present in every relationship and every situation. God is working redemptively in all of them."

All that we communicate is not merely through words. Recently I was reading a little book written by a Rev. W.H. Elliott who was a chaplain to the King of England in the 1930's. The first chapter is "On the Art of Living". In it Elliott writes, "To live well is the only success worth having. Without it all other successes become useless and , indeed, dangerous, the root causes of our unhappiness and unrest." As Christians, we have deep convictions about God and the great realities that we believe to be ultimate truth - the unchanging expressions of His will. And we seek to live in obedience. This is a way of living which we wish to purposefully commend to others. But the best method of accomplishing this is not through verbal arguments. "The world is watching for the people who live well. Those are the people who are arguing most effectively for the Christian faith," Elliott writes. Also he says that if the Christian Church really demonstrated the art of life, it would be appealing to the world.  "The greatest and most honorable servants of God are ...those who in some inconspicuous corner of life live as they pray, and make goodness a beautiful and fragrant thing to all who see them and know them." As 2 Cor. 2:15 says, "For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing."  So to our best ability we choose to live well as we obey God, appreciate life and enjoy all that He has made. Our trust is in God, "who richly gives us all we need for our enjoyment." (I Timothy 6:17)  Elliott concludes, "You and I...are not arguing about the growth of the lilac. We just love it for its loveliness, and breathe in its sweetness to our tired souls."