The Good Life. For each one of us, this phrase conjures up something different. What is it for you? Vast wealth? Sunny days free from responsibility? Perfect health? A powerful position? We all long for whatever we think will make everything just right.
But that joy is ersatz—a word that means “synthetic” or “artificial.” Think of a child’s kitchen playset, the kind with plastic pork chops and foam bread. When little ones bring us a heaping plate of “food,” we only pretend to eat. The same is true of our misplaced desires—they look enticing but will leave us empty. Instead, we must seek out the life Christ presents and feast on His truth.
In 1 Timothy 6, Paul tells his pupil, “Instruct those who are rich in this present world not to be conceited or to set their hope on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly supplies us with all things to enjoy” (1 Tim. 6:17). Only through Him can we “take hold of that which is truly life” (1 Tim. 6:19).
Think about it
• Consider the ways you may have settled for ersatz joy. How can you begin to let those things go and take hold of God’s best?
