Life Can Be Beautiful

The title of my little talk tonight is, Life Can Be Beautiful. This should be of special interest to those who feel that thus far, life has been anything but beautiful. Some time ago a preacher met a student who usually seemed to enjoy all that life had to offer, but on this particular occasion he seemed discouraged and lonely.

The preacher asked, what's the matter with you today? And the reply was, I'm not feeling too well. I've been thinking a bit and wondering whether life is worthwhile. But you are so young, said the preacher, and you haven't really seen life.

The young student dropped his head and said, but life is boring already and it doesn't seem worth living. I want something to live for, but I just can't put my finger on it. With this confession the preacher suggested he never would be satisfied until he had some assurance regarding where he would spend eternity.

Perhaps that's it, replied the student. So tell me how I can know that all will be well when I leave this scene. From that point the preacher began to unfold to him the simple plan of salvation as we have it in the Bible, how Christ died for our sins and offers salvation by grace to all who desire to be saved.

Deep in the heart of every soul is that unquenchable thirst for reality and truth. The longing for an abundant life in the present is overshadowed by yearning for a new life hereafter. The desire constantly drives every soul to seek a solution.

Some try to pacify this quest for peace of heart and mind through wealth, maybe popularity, or religious rituals, or time-killing pastimes. The one who tries to suppress this heart-longing by substitutes will always become despondent and discouraged. One of the reasons for feeling that life is not worthwhile is because the individual refuses to face the true facts.

God says that the source of the trouble is that man is a sinner by nature and by practice. By one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin, and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned. That's Romans 5 and 12.

You can be lost on an automobile trip for a long time before you're aware of it, and just so you can be lost spiritually for a long time and not know it. Someone must call your attention to the fact that you are lost, and that's the reason why life seems so empty. The sad part about it is that when I try to help a lost soul, very often he resents the facts and tries to evade the truth.

In such cases, the person evidences that he is content to be miserable, and so he misses the whole purpose in living. The person who is not afraid of facts will acknowledge his need and listen carefully to God's remedy. God says that because you are a sinner, you deserve to be punished for your sins.

God cannot overlook sin. His holiness cannot permit sin to continue unpunished, but God in mercy found a way whereby he could pardon the sinner, because his son Jesus Christ volunteered to take the sinner's place when he died on Calvary's rugged cross. Christ so loved us that he took the punishment that we deserved, and God offers forgiveness on no other ground than through the death of our substitute.

By accepting the Lord Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, resting completely on his finished work, I can have the assurance of peace with God, and life becomes new and beautiful. The heart is light and gay when it is free from physical and mental worries. Imagine the joy of the person who knows that his sins, which have been many, are forgiven and will never be brought up again.

Everything is different when a person is saved. A new life, new desires, new attitudes, and joy beyond description. When one knows that heaven will be his eternal home, he can say, life has become beautiful.

I know of no other way in which you can ever find a true and lasting joy in living. If, like the young student you have found, that is already boring and empty, it's high time that you should be ready to accept the fullness of life, the joy of living that God offers to those who are honest enough to confess their need. If I wasn't saved, if I didn't know Christ as my Savior, I know that I would have to admit that life is hardly worthwhile.

How can life be beautiful? It can't until you are saved and know that you are heaven bound. You may try every other means, but you will never find peace of mind and the joy of living until you come to Christ for salvation. What I am saying is more than mere theology.

This is a tried and proved fact. Hundreds of men and women in the whole world can witness to this truth, for in days past they were looking for something to make life worthwhile. They found even more than they expected to find when they trusted Christ and were born again.

Life has become beautiful and worthwhile. It seems like poor reasoning when I meet some who freely acknowledge that life to them is an empty grind, but they seem to have no interest in changing the situation. Evidently, there are some people who love misery enough to continue on, rejecting all the help that Christ offers.

There's an old saying that opportunity knocks once, but Christ has no doubt knocked at the door of your heart before. If he wasn't so plenteous in mercy, he might only knock once. Behold the stranger at the door.

He gently knocks, has knocked before, has waited long, is waiting still. You use no other friend so ill. Oh lovely attitude, he stands with open heart and outstretched hand.

Oh matchless kindness, and he shows his matchless kindness to his foes. Admit him ere his anger burn, lest he depart and ne'er return. Admit him o'er the hours of hand when at his door denied you stand.

Life can be beautiful, but only for those who are saved and on the way to heaven. I ask you, my listener, will you trust the Lord Jesus Christ this very hour, and find the fullness of life by knowing that you're on the way to heaven? And now we want to thank you for listening to our gospel program. We trust you have enjoyed the messages in song and the message from God's precious word, and we trust that you'll become a regular listener to this gospel program.