Real Church Part 3 “Real Life” THRIVE Service Livestream

It’s a small line from the letter Paul wrote to Timothy. Blink and you’ll miss it. But it contains a message about something we all want. The Good Life. Here’s the line, “so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life.” So, what is the life that is truly life? What constitutes a good life, and how do we attain it?

Take a survey and you’ll get a lot of different answers such as money, good health, success, a well-paying job and a nice house, security, friends, and family etc. Dr. Robert Waldinger of Harvard Medical School has spent his career searching for the answers to these questions. He wrote a book based on his findings, “The Good Life”, a New York Times Bestseller. In it is a recent survey of millennials, who when asked what they wanted in their adult life, over 80% said they wanted to get rich, 50% said they wanted to get famous, and 50% said they wanted high career achievements.

In our pursuit of personal happiness, we often miss the most important things. We want certain things we believe will make us happy. Money, success, material things. Often, much to our surprise, those things don’t bring real happiness. It’s not solely whether your life is going well for you, but whether your life is meaningful and has purpose.

According to the Bible, real life, the good life, is not determined by the size of our bank accounts, our or the square footage of our houses. It has more to do with the capacity of our heart and the choices we make. Most of us have an idea of what a good life consists of. On our best days we try to be faithful, kind, compassionate, caring, and generous. It’s the question we will ask ourselves one day when we look back in reflection, “Did I live a good life?”

“…take hold of the life that is truly life.”   

Take hold of it:

Before you miss it.

Before it passes you by.

Before it’s too late.

Before we get it wrong.

Before we take the wrong path.

Before we bet on the wrong thing.