Living Your Best Life Now

Well Joel Osteen is right about one thing, we should be living our best life now! The only problem is that his methods are all wrong!!

I like the first question of the Westminster Shorter Catechism (and the response).

Q1. What is the chief end of man?
Man's chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever.

The following is the first resolution that Jonathan Edwards wrote:

1. Resolved, That I will do whatsoever I think to be most to the glory of God, and my own good, profit, and pleasure, in the whole of my duration; without any consideration of time, whether now, or never so many myriads of ages hence. Resolved, to do whatever I think to be my duty, and most for the good and advantage of mankind in general. ...

Here is a preamble that he wrote that goes with the resolutions:

Being sensible that I am unable to do anything without God's help, I do humbly entreat him by his grace to enable me to keep these Resolutions, so far as they are agreeable to his will, for Christ's sake.

Here is an entry from Jonathan Edwards diary Tuesday, Jan 15.

But alas ! how soon do I decay! O how weak, how infirm, how unable to do anything of myself! What a poor inconsistent being! What a miserable wretch, without the assistance of the Spirit of God! While I stand, I am ready to think that I stand by my own strength, and upon my own legs; and I am ready to triumph over my own spiritual enemies, as if it were myself that caused them to flee: - when alas! I am but a poor infant, upheld by Jesus Christ; who holds me up, and gives me liberty to smile to see my enemies flee, when he drives them before me. And so I laugh, as though I myself did it, when it is only Jesus Christ leads me along, and fights himself against my enemies. And now the Lord has a little left me, how weak do I find myself! O let it teach me to depend less on myself, to be more humble, and to give more of the praise of my ability to Jesus Christ! The heart of man is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it!

We can live our best live now by living for God's Glory alone. But yet, "we" are incapable of living it ourselves. We must daily be on our knees and go before the throne of Grace and confess our sinfulness and ask for the Holy Spirit's help in living each day to Glorify God!

If we stay humble and with the Holy Spirit's help we can live our best life now to the Glory of God!! Our best life now is not a life that is lived for ourselves as Joel Osteen would suggest. We must always with the Spirit's help fight the fight of faith to look to God, read his revealed Word and humble ourselves before His Majesty and Glory!

Grace and Peace