…so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life. 1 Timothy 6:19
Truly Life
For decades, Peggy Lee was a fixture in American pop culture. Called “The Queen of American Pop Music,” she performed on stage, on television, and in the movies. For example, you can hear her voice and her songs all through the Disney classic, “Lady and the Tramp.”
For all the joy she brought, however, perhaps her most memorable song is one that is not joyful at all. In 1969, she recorded a song entitled “Is That All There Is?” In it, a woman reflects on past events in her life, from the loss of her childhood home to going to the circus with her father, and her first romantic love. After each event, she asks herself, “Is that all there is?” She knows that something is missing, but she doesn’t know what. And as she looks to the end of her life, she’s convinced that, in her final moments, she’ll ask the same question: “Is that all there is?”
The song earned Peggy Lee a Grammy Award. It also reached the top of the charts. Clearly, the song had struck a nerve. It still does today.
In the closing sentences of the apostle Paul’s first letter to Timothy, he reminds us not to look to the things of this world. Don’t look to the things of this world for security, for fulfillment, for meaning, for identity. Not only are the things of this world uncertain; even if they surround us until the day we die, they offer nothing that lasts. In the end, all we will have is the question, “Is that all there is?”
Enter our Creator. Enter God the Son. Enter Jesus. On our behalf, our Savior did what he had to do to rescue us from an empty, pointless existence. His perfect life and death in our place pulled us out of our darkness and back into his light. For now, in him, not only do we bask in his forgiveness; in him, we are once again what he created us to be. We are in the family of God. And because we are, we now have the life that is truly life.
Prayer:
Lord, in you alone I possess the life that is truly life. Thank you. Amen.
