What does a good life look like?
There are so many different concepts of what a good life looks like. Many would define it as being able to do whatever you want. Others would say that it is having enough money to buy a standard of living that brings comfort and safety. Still others would say living for your family and knowing that they are well regarded and well looked after.
In certain Christian circles, people are taught that a good life is one free from troubles including sickness and poverty. If you are faithful to God, God will bless you with a good life, a life of ease and comfort and blessing.
The Biblical answer is rather different to all of these. A life assessed by God to be a good life, one that is good and right in the eyes of the Lord, is a faithful life. We see this in the books of 1 and 2 Kings. So many people in the books of Kings are assessed as evil in God’s sight, including kings who were timid and did what their fathers did as well as domineering kings who pushed the nation away from the true God. Yet some are counted as right in God’s sight. There are prophets who spoke against the evil of their day and priests who took great personal risks to help God’s people. Some kings were faithful in the middle of a culture that was not.
We can see three elements to what God would call a good life in the books of Kings:
- A good life is faithful to God despite alternatives
A good life is not one where you live for yourself and do whatever you want. That might feel freeing, but it only leads to disaster. Good kings trusted in God’s word in the Scriptures or from the prophets of their day. They trusted in God and tried their hardest to reform their nation to honour Him.
- A good life in this world is not a perfect life
None of the people assessed as doing what was right in God’s eyes in the books of Kings were perfect. Elijah despaired of the task he had been given. Josiah was involved in a battle he didn’t need to fight. God knows we are sinful people. The key issue is how we respond to our sin, whether we are quick to repent or not.
- A good life in this world is not one that is full of comfort and no troubles
God chooses whether our lives will be full of troubles or ease; this is not a reflection of how faithful we happen to be. Good King Hezekiah had to rule through a siege of Jerusalem, while evil King Manasseh lived a long and peaceful life, dying at a good old age. All of us will face trouble of some kind sooner or later. Living a faithful and good life means to trust God whatever happens.
Let’s seek the good life. That doesn’t mean to dream of the bigger house and nicer car and better experiences. It means to trust in our good God through good and bad and to make our priorities in life line up with God’s kingdom priorities. This is where true satisfaction will be found.