Bulletin Articles
Life Is About Life
“Life Is About Life”
Dee Bowman – c/o Folsom church of Christ, Folsom, CA
Life is what life is all about. Sound strange? Maybe, but it’s so. Life is what life is all about. Life is union; it’s having the whole man together in functional order. Life is the physical, mental, and spiritual experiences that constitute one’s existence. Notice that there are actually three things involved in life. There is the physical part of man--his body, his physical existence. There is the mental part of man--his mind and all his mental faculties viewed together. And there is a spiritual part of man--that part of man that relates to his eternal nature, the part that worships and serves a Greater Being. Life is all of these things put together.
We function well when all three of these things--the physical, the mental, and the spiritual--are in good order. When even one of these things is not working properly, the whole life is affected. For instance, when we are ill physically, the mental and spiritual parts of our being respond to that illness too. When we are mentally disturbed, the physical being is affected as well. And, while it is less noticeable than the other two, when we are spiritually ill, the entirety of our being (including the physical and mental parts) is affected. Life, then, is more than just the healthy body, more than just a strong mental disposition. Life is having the spiritual part of man in good order as well. In that connection, let me suggest some little things about life.
Life is the little. We often think of a successful life in terms of big events, big happenings, big circumstances. But, in reality, life is mostly about little things. First of all, we can only live it a day at a time. And isn’t it true that life is actually about a little health, a little peace, a little joy, a little happiness? And isn’t it true that life is about a little sorrow, a little consternation, a little exasperation, a little pain, a little disgust? Actually, most of life is made of small happenings, little things that come along. And our happiness depends, in great measure, not on how we handle all the big events in life, but how we take care of the little stuff that comes along regularly. “Sufficient to the day is the evil thereof” is actually saying, in our modern vernacular, “just take it one day at a time” (Matt. 6:34).
Life is the less. We run after more and more if we aren’t careful. “The eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing” (Ecclesiastes 1:8). We have to have more of what life has to offer and so we run needlessly after that which has little substance; and what substance there is is fleeting and temporary. When you get right down to the important matters in life, it’s all about love, not money; it’s all about fidelity, not fame; it’s all about genuineness, not power; it’s all about excellence, not success; and it’s all about serving, not being served. Less money won’t hurt us. Less love will.
Life is the unimportant. I guess everybody, at some time or the other in his life, dreams of being “somebody.” Fame holds out great advantages and repute is made to be very desirable. But when you stop and think about it - being “somebody” has lots of baggage. You can’t go to the Pizza Hut when you’re famous, you can’t walk around the mall, you can’t spend a quiet, few minutes in an airport, waiting our your flight, and furthermore, when you’re “somebody” you don’t quite know who your true friends are. On the other hand anonymity has its advantages. You can go on vacation without being bothered. You can make a mistake without everyone knowing about it. Nobody follows you around seeking some advantage from you. Big events do come along in life, but mostly life is about small, seemingly insignificant things - things that mean something to you and nobody else--a grandbaby’s smile, growing old with someone you have loved for a long time, seeing a flower you planted bloom, adding a room to your house, just sitting in the same room and reading with someone you love. Unimportant things, right? Says who?
Life is for living. Life is a gift from God. “Seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things” (Acts 17: 25). It’s up to me what I make of what He has given me. “In the day of prosperity rejoice, but in the day of adversity, consider: God also hath set the one over against the other….” (Ecclesiastes 7:14). The good days are good, but the bad days teach. The good days encourage, but the bad days teach. The good days produce joy, the bad days teach. We learn out of adversity--how to handle delicate situations, how to get by in times of trouble, how to make do with what you have. But mostly we learn from adversity how to look to God for strength. Life is for enjoying the good, though. Life is for rejoicing when you get that good report. Life is paring the hole after a bad drive. Life is exulting over the new little one--especially if it’s a new grandbaby. Life if for both-- rejoicing and learning.
Life is for getting ready. When the wise man finished his grand experiment with life, he concluded that the whole matter can be summed up in one statement: “Fear God and keep His commandments. For this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good or whether it be evil “ (Ecclesiastes 12:13-14). Life is for getting ready for the real life--eternal life. Life is about preparing for judgment and the eternal rewards it will afford. And living life with a view toward eternity is the only life that makes any sense. After all, it’s the only way we can have an eternal life. And that’s what this life’s all about, getting ready to have the eternal one.
