The Truth About Right Living - A Personal Observation

As this part of the analysis is wrapped up, one critically important truth remains to be seen, and that truth reveals the Lord's overall, basic simplicity. As I have researched and studied various Christian topics and issues through the years, I have seen over and over that God is very simple, very straightforward and that the devil is the one who always employs all of the many complicated methods.

According to the first chapter in the first book of the Bible, Genesis, Chapter One, God created the world and set a few things in motion - both acts which are very simple and straightforward, relatively speaking. In the same manner, He created the first man and made the first woman, again fairly simple processes for someone like Him. At the other end of the spectrum, however, there is the devil with his two great works of science, the Big Bang theory and the Theory of Evolution, trying to use logic and mathematics to remove God completely from the picture or to at least move Him to some small corner somewhere.

There is not any concrete evidence to support the somewhat complicated Theory of Evolution at the macro level or to support the equally complicated Big Bang theory at the micro level. Consequently, the devil has taken God's relatively uncomplicated acts of Creation and with the help of two unproven scientific theories, transformed this whole thing into something which is very scientific and highly complicated.

By the end of the Eighties, I began to think that maybe I, too, had transformed the simple into something which was overly complicated and that maybe I, too, had missed the real point in my Christian service. My concern, however, was not related to whether or not the sin gap between God and me had really been closed. I knew that that matter had been settled years before. Besides that, I still had the opening verses of I John, Chapter Five, to give me the added assurance that I needed if that had been my problem. My concern also was not related to whether or not I had lived a good enough life. I knew the spiritual truth about that issue, too, since the Bible teaches that none of us are without sin, whether we are or are not saved. Therefore, my concern was not with either of those two matters. Instead, it was with whether or not I had really been and was still focusing on the right matters before the Lord. For over fifteen years, I had been embroiled in most of the silly Christian issues that were discussed earlier. At times, I had even taught them to others. So, during the late Eighties, I began to wonder if the Lord would really be pleased with me for having occupied so many of my years for Him in such fashion!

Because of the nature of my general concern, I tried to envision what the Lord would say to me if He were going to give me an instant twenty year evaluation. Bear in mind that I had not lived my life in a particularly shameful or wicked manner, but I was still questioning whether or not He would really be pleased about my having done as I had. Would He be happy, for instance, that I had been fairly active in His work for a long time, or would He be more disappointed because I had not yet found the correct answer to any of the above issues? Just what would He say?

At that point in my Christian walk, I earnestly wanted to know what was most important to Him. I earnestly wanted to know how to get a hold of God in a very real way - nothing fancy, nothing spectacular or splendid, just something that was real! So, to find the answer, I did what I have done for almost thirty years!

I began by fasting for seventy-two hours, from Saturday evening until Tuesday evening. During that time, I prayed and asked the Lord to show me whatever it was that He was trying to make me or help me see. As a Christian, I live and have lived by a very simple principle. I do not wish to live my fifty, sixty, seventy, or however many years on this earth, only to die and learn that I had not done with my life exactly as the Lord had wanted. Therefore, in a very human way, I try to live each day for Him. I often fall short of this lofty objective, but I still try to be where He wants me, doing what He wants me to do. So when I prayed the above prayer, I was literally asking Him to show me that thing or those things which were most important to Him and also those things which He really wanted me to know.

Through the years, I have many times seen the validity of an earlier comment, and I saw it again on that occasion! The truth is that the Lord really will let a person believe a lie, if he or she has the heart to do so. However, He will also show the truth to all who really want to know it and even more so to those who are willing to do a little digging for it. Since I was earnest and sincere with Him in my prayers, He gave me an answer which I have never questioned. For one thing, His answer once again reminded me of His basic, general simplicity.

After having spent so many years caught up in the complex web of numerous Christian issues, I really wanted something which would be straightforward and easy to understand, plus something which no one could ever possibly dispute. And the Lord provided me with just the right answer! The Bible gives each of us a very clear, easy to understand, straightforward, positive command relative to what the Lord truly wants from each of us. In fact, my opinion is that this is the most important teaching in the Bible! Therefore, if a person can only get one thing right in this life, then my feeling is that this is the one!

"But when the Pharisees had heard that he had put the Saducees to silence, they were gathered together. Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him, and saying, Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, THOU SHALT LOVE THE LORD THY GOD WITH ALL THY HEART, AND WITH ALL THY SOUL, AND WITH ALL THY MIND. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, THOU SHALT LOVE THY NEIGHBOR AS THYSELF. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets." (Matthew 22:34-40)

Allow me to repeat an important truth one more time. That truth is that the Lord is very simple, while the devil is the one who tries to complicate! Through the years, I have watched many good people argue over a number of silly Christian issues, but when I asked the Lord, after having spent almost twenty years of my own life arguing some of those same issues, the above verses gave me His answer. It was then that I really saw His absolute, unchanging simplicity. It was then that I also saw the devil's never ending attempts to confuse and complicate that which is so simple. The Lord always provides simple, straightforward instructions, yet people, because they are so easily deceived and distracted by the evil one, have always quickly gotten off track. Of course, these things should not be, but most of us know that they are. So, the question must be asked again. What does God really want from each of us?

Does He require that we be real good so that we can close the sin gap with Him by our own goodness? No! Does He require us to be brilliant enough to see through the deception of the Big Bang theory and the Theory of Evolution? No! Does He require us to understand all the ins and outs concerning the validity of the Faith? No! In as simple terms as humanly possible, my conclusion is that He actually only wants one thing from any one of us. He wants our love! He wants us to love Him first and above all. Then, He wants us to love one another as we love ourselves. Unfortunately, most of us do not do these things! Even among Christians, most of us do not.

Part of the problem is our never ending captivation with all of the many silly Christian issues. When a person gets caught up with the "once saved, always saved" issue, he or she tends to put their confidence in that issue, rather than in the Lord. The same is really true of any issue, regardless of which way the individual has chosen to believe. In a manner of speaking, that person's love for the Lord, by his or her being misdirected toward a secondary issue, has actually become tainted or impure. It is no longer perfect, and in my opinion, this impure heart is partly why God will allow someone in that condition to believe a lie.

It is not that He is vindictive or mean-spirited. It is not that He wants us to mess up. But if an individual chooses to take hold of a particular issue and then to be driven and controlled by that issue, then I can see a Lord who will just back off and say all right. Go ahead! Because God loves us, He allows us many freedoms. However, one of those freedoms is that He will let someone believe a lie, instead of correcting that individual and forcing him or her back into submission.

Another part of the problem is our never ending captivation with self. Most people are naturally selfish. They care about themselves much too much to really care more about either God or others. As was discussed in Chapter Two, the system around us actually encourages a person to have a self-centered approach toward this life. We are taught from an early age to seek our own good and to establish our own life, rather than to focus our attention on the good of others.

Almost from birth, each of us is told that getting a good education and job are supremely important. We are surrounded by things and taught that maximum happiness is somehow tied to quantity and substance, instead of quality. But to please God, one cannot fall for this deception and those distractions. To really please Him, an individual must be driven by a completely different priority scheme, one which puts God and others before oneself. While education and jobs do have their places in this life, those worldly pursuits in God's eyes are not most important or even among the things to be most preferred.

So then, one more time, what does God really want from each of us? The answer does not involve anything fancy or complicated. He just wants our love, first for Him, then for others. But how does one give that kind of love? This is a question which I cannot and will not try to answer for others. I can only answer it for myself by offering the following. With all my heart, mind, and soul, I have purposed in my heart to love the Lord to the very best of my ability. I have also purposed to love others as He would have me.

In arriving at this point in my life, I have consciously chosen to no longer be distracted by the fascinating discoveries of science or by the foolishness of unimportant theological issues. Now, I have a completely new approach to life! And this new approach of putting God first and others second is, in my opinion, the real key, not only to finding real happiness in this present world, but also to actually getting a hold of God!