Inner Peace

   If I am wealthy and have all worldly goods but am not at peace within myself I am poor.  If I have many friends but none who truly love me I am alone.  No amount of riches can provide the peace that my soul desires.  Acquaintances whom I may think are friends cannot give me the joy of true, loving friendship.

   I may spend my life in luxury yet live in poverty.  I may be surrounded by people but lonely.  If I have not achieved inner peace and have love for others who also love me I do not know the joy of true happiness.

   Life is not an end unto itself; it is a path to my final destination.  If I spend it serving the earthly desires of myself and those around me I have failed in the true purpose of my life.  Life will end; eternity does not.  If I am not seeking those things that provide eternal happiness and peace I have wasted my life.

   If I turn to God and seek the things of heaven, earthly wealth and riches aren’t necessary.  Though I may have gold and silver they are not wealth that lasts.  The wealth that lies in the peace and joy of God’s love is the only true wealth.

   Jesus lived in poverty; He didn’t even have a home to call His own in this world.  Rather, He had a home in heaven that He choose to give up for a while.  He became man and died for me, paying the price of my sins.  Unless I live my life conscious of and eternally grateful for that sacrifice I will never know my true home in heaven.

   I must be willing to sacrifice for those I love just as He sacrificed for me.  I must happily and willingly carry whatever cross is mine to bear.  I must readily walk alongside Jesus to Golgotha if necessary.  Life is short; eternity is forever.  If I forget that simple fact I will never understand the meaning of life.

   I am a traveler in a foreign land searching for the way home.  Unless I follow the right path I will remain lost in a world that has no future.  Only God can show me the way and only I can make the choice to follow it.

“For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself?”  (Luke 9: 25)