Best Life Now?

Thanksgiving Day is a time our nation sets aside to give thanks for the wonderful bounty of the earth. As Christians, we direct our thanks to the true God who created the earth and continues to bless it so that we are blessed with abundant food. We should really be amazed at the variety, abundance, and safety that we have come to expect when we go to any grocery store in the country.
God has provided this abundance through His “masks”—farmers, harvesters, shippers, warehouse men, truckers, grocers, and clerks. Through these people, God provides food throughout the nation. Using people in other vocations, God “richly and daily provides me with … clothing, home and family, property and goods, and all that I need to support this body and life” (Small Catechism). In addition, God protects us against all evil.
Our giving thanks to God also means that we are 1) content with all that God provides, 2) grateful for the blessings we receive, and 3) trusting in God to meet all our needs in body and soul—whether or not He gives us much or little.
Now, not every believer in the world experiences a rich, plentiful, productive, normal, and healthy life. As we live in a world corrupted by sin on every level, we should not be surprised that troubles, difficulties, and sorrows come to us or to others. St. Paul wrote, “We also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope” (Romans 5:3–4). He described his own life “as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things” (2 Corinthians 6:10). In this same letter, Paul states, “We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed.” Then he adds, “Our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory” (2 Corinthians 4:8–9,17).
So, in spite of the many blessings from God that we enjoy, the Christian’s life on earth may feature tribulations, sorrows, perplexities, and persecution. Paul says that we are to rejoice in them because God uses them to teach us to depend on Him, to trust His word, and to eagerly wait for the glory that will be revealed to us in heaven. And forgiveness, salvation, and eternal life are what we truly are to thank God for.
This message of St. Paul is in great contrast to the message of those who are preaching a “gospel” of prosperity and health. Joel Osteen wrote the book Your Best Life Now, in which he feeds into the dream of many people who yearn for a good life on earth. He teaches them to expect earthly blessings from “god” when they strive to do good. But he and other “prosperity” preachers forget to talk about the nature of sin and the need for a Savior from the God’s punishment of sin.
Their message is that if believers trust God’s promises and follow His rules, God will give them the health and earthly blessings for which they ask. The emphasis is placed on man’s attitude and efforts to keep his part of the contract.
However, no matter how successful a person is on earth, it is not his best life. For in this world riches, fame, health, and entertainment are all fleeting—they give no lasting happiness. If we have hope of the “best life” in this world only, we are to be pitied for setting our goals way too low.
Our best life comes when Jesus takes us to heaven. For Jesus has promised, “In My Father’s house are many mansions. I go to prepare a place for you” (John 14:2). In heaven, “There shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away” (Revelation 2:14). No matter how good life on earth is or how much tribulation we experience, nothing can compare with the glory that will be revealed to us in eternity (Romans 8:12). This life is Jesus’ gift to us. Thank God for His mercy and grace toward us. Why would we ever desire what is less?
Theodore Gullixson is pastor of Grace Lutheran Church in Madison, Wisconsin.