Enjoy Life

29 Oct

“Life is to be enjoyed, not endured.”  ~ Gordon B. Hinckley

There are many things that I ponder in my life and many things of which I am unsure.  This, however, is one of the things I am absolutely sure about: God wants us to be happy.  As we were made in God’s image and likeness, God wants us to be happy and fulfilled.  Sometimes, we look at our lives, and we become bitter or morose.  That does not please God at all.  God wants us to look at our lives and be happy.  He wants us to enjoy our time here on earth so that we could look forward to even more perfect joy in heaven.

A friend of mine once played the Ghost of Christmas Present in the musical version of A Christmas Carol.  In that musical, the ghost sings to Ebenezer Scrooge, “I like life, life likes me, life and I fully fairly agree.  Life is fine, life is good, ‘specially mine which is just as it should be.” The Ghost of Christmas Present shows Scrooge that there are many things in life that can and should fill a person with joy.  It is only the pursuit of things that are unnecessary that causes us grief in our lives.

What is necessary is love.  We need to love others just as much as we need to experience the love of others.  We need to love our God above all and follow His example in loving one another.  If we can do that, life will never be tedious and viewed as something that we must endure.  Even the most challenged person, if his or her life is lived in love, will feel free.  I know people that have become totally incapacitated and yet their outlook is bright and their demeanor is loving because they are filled with the love of God.

What is unnecessary is fame, power, prestige, riches, and all the other things in which the world promises fulfillment if we go after them.  I know many people who have many things and who are incredibly miserable because they do not have what is most important: love.

God gave you this day.  Live it up to the full and enjoy every minute of it.

FAITH ACTION:  If you see someone down in the dumps today, do or say something that will cheer him or her up.  Christ would want us to do nothing less.