The Fountain of Youth

** What man is he that desireth life, and loveth many days, that he may see good? Keep thy tongue from evil and thy lips from speaking guile. Depart from evil, and do good: seek peace, and pursue it. ** Psalm 34:12-14

Sometimes the Lord just makes it easy on us. He poses a question and then gives us the answer.

We all want a good and long life, don’t we? We all want to live in peace and comfort and be happy.

Strife, contention, arguing, discord, being full of pride, being control freaks, gossip, backstabbing, demeaning others, lies, little white lies, ….none of that will bring us the happy life of ease. They will only cause more grief and pain. We, ourselves, need to recognize that we may have some or all of these character flaws in us. We need to face them head on and put them in the Lord’s hands to be dealt with. It will be painful and it will take time, but He has the power to change us.

Little by little the changes will happen. Little by little we will have more peace. Little by little we will have a happier and more fruitful life.

Through the changes that will occur in our hearts, the Lord will be with us every step of the way. He won’t leave us or forsake us even though it will, at times, be ugly. We will see ourselves in a bright and revealing light and we won’t like it or ourselves.

His comfort and encouragement will be with us, as well. He will show us the good that is happening inside of us. He will show us the improvements in our relationships. We will notice that we have more peace, less stress, less anger, less arguments.

We will see the reality of abiding (dwelling, focusing, surrendering) and being a disciple. One who wants to be like his/her Master.

Clearly, the ugly traits are not Him. He is Rest, Peace, Hope, Goodness, Love, and Eternity.

So, if the question about a long and happy life is swirling around in our heart, if we are hoping to find the fountain of youth, so that we always feel young and happy, the answer is Him. It is always Him. Be like Him. Be like Jesus.