What makes life worth living?
Do you ever think about that?

You may be young; a satisfying
future stretches out ahead. There may be some obstacles to overcome first
before that future can be realized; but still, the opportunity is there and
worth every effort. What does the future hold for you?

Do you see great career
opportunities, a chance to leave your mark, be respected, and be financially
comfortable (maybe even wealthy)? Perhaps family and friends mean the most to
you and you plan marriage and a satisfying home and family life. For the more
energetic, exciting experiences and fun may be anticipated:you are determined
that new experiences, places, and people are to be yours.

It may not seem that you are
asking for much—certainly not more than others have done. But where is Jesus
Christ—where is God—in all your hopes and plans?

Let us have a reality check here.
Picture the universe of seemingly infinite space, stars and galaxies, moons and
comets, farther than the eye can see. And in the center of your vision, a
beautiful blue globe, marbled over with white cloud swirls and earthy colored
areas, contrasting dramatically with the deep darkness around it.

You are looking from the
incredible expanse of the universe God made for Himself at the place He
uniquely designed for human beings. There we find His creation, His people,
people for Him to love, and people who will love Him and worship Him, not only
with their words but, most importantly, with their lives!

Further, still, see Jesus Christ
Himself—the maker and owner of all you have just been picturing, everything made
by Him and for Him. And in one tiny spot on that blue and brown globe, too
small to be seen from your vantage point in space, there is the place called
Gethsemane; nearby, the hill called Golgotha, or Calvary.

There, in that place, Jesus, the
Son of God, gave everything for you. You say you believe that, you have known
that, and you trust Him as your Savior. But in a real, everyday sense, are you
His? Is your life His? Are your future, your plans, His?

Ask God to create in you a desire
for something far higher, far better than what you have been seeking so
far—"gold, silver and precious stones," rather than "wood, hay
and stubble" (1 Cor. 3:12). Ask often, and feed that desire with what God
has given you to be food for your spirit. Your soul and spirit can only expand
with His feeding, and with the active exercise of faith, grasping one by one
the things He teaches you. Live by these things; revel in the growing life you
have in God; refuse to be deceived by Satan and your own natural self into
believing that you can be satisfied by things that fall short of full spiritual
life in Christ.

You may not have noticed—since you
have been so busy with your life and plans—that your spirit is hungry!
It cannot be satisfied by activity, by entertainment, by fun, by any thing.
The father of lies would love to have you deaden (or never awake to) your
spirit’s desires with the narcotic of sensual things, "good" things,
things that promise to meet your emotional needs and your physical and mental
desires. "The flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the
flesh; and these things are opposed one to the other, that you should not do
those things that you desire" (Gal. 5:17 JND).

In place of the "junk
food" just mentioned, feed your spirit with what is of the Holy Spirit—namely,
the Word of God. Avoid hurry and over‑busyness. You will need to
"make time" for this, which really means carefully spending the
scarcest non‑renewable resource you have—time. You can have life as God
intended it. Then it will be a life worth living!