The Truth About Right Living - A Personal Observation

As was shared earlier in Chapter Three, Romans 3:23 says that all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. This means that there is a sin gap which exists between each individual and God. Romans 6:23 tells us that the wages of that sin gap is death. This means that eternal death and damnation await the person who dies to this life without having eliminated that gap. Romans 5:6-8 speaks of Christ as being a free gift from God and also portrays Him as the only Way that one can actually break that sin gap. Finally, Revelations 20:11-15 talks about a second death and says that it is for all who have not received Jesus as Saviour.

Given that all of these Bible passages are true, then if the hard-working, ambitious youth in the above scenario had failed to close his or her sin gap with the Lord, the result is that that person would spend eternity separated from God. If that were to happen, then how important would any of those earthly accomplishments really have been? Based on Revelation 21:8 and the information given there about the eternal lake of fire which accompanies the second death, the answer is not very. That person, who had accomplished so much in this life, would have been guilty of doing what many have done.

A large segment of society has devoted all its energy and concern to the events on this side of the grave and for the most part completely ignored the eternal consequences of having failed to consider those on the other side.

This is where the mathematical part of the theme from Chapter Seven comes into play. If the average life span is seventy or eighty years, then my opinion is that a person logically should divide that number by the infinitely large number of eternity to compute the real significance of events in this life. Such a computation would quickly show that all of the worldly things which typically dominate people's thoughts and attention really have very little true value when compared to the never ending realm of eternity.

Therefore, the conclusion to me is clear! If God, the sin gap, and eternity are real, and the evidence suggests that they are, then no earthly pursuit has any significance or meaning unless the individual concerned has first paid the right amount of attention to the needs on the other side of the grave!

Chapter Seven began by looking at the pressure and stress of trying to prepare for adulthood, plus the pressure and stress for when one actually becomes an adult. Those feelings of anxiety pertain to the physical side of life, and they are real! So, parents who try to teach their children work-related skills at an early age are not beasts or bad people. From their perspective, they are merely trying to help their child get ready for all of life's difficulties so that that child can avoid later problems down the road.

Their logic in this regard is not entirely faulty. Those who have experienced the hardness of life naturally would like for their child or children to not undergo similar experiences. If that young person can begin soon in life to prepare for this life, then perhaps some of that pressure and stress really can be avoided. At least, that is the parent's hope!

But there is a better way! It is true that life has a physical side and that that side requires a time of preparation. But our life also has a spiritual side, and that side needs a time of preparation, too. When a parent tries to prepare his or her child only for the difficulties and needs of this life, then the needs of the other side of the grave, which relates to the spiritual side, are usually not being met. When that same young person or even older person follows that kind of leading, whether it originated from the parents or not, and commits his or her life to a mostly earthly path, then again those same needs relative to the other side of the grave are not being met. For the person in that predicament, a spiritual void or emptiness exists and will remain in them throughout their life. It will never be quenched. Over the course of their lifetime, that individual will not have lived equally well on both sides of the grave, and that will have led to much of the stress and anxiety that they will have been experienced.

The solution to this problem comes from Matthew 26:39, a verse which shows Christ's attitude at the time just before He was crucified. In a prayer to His Father, He emphasized a willingness to do His Father's will, not His own. While He was in the midst of His own personal crisis, His focus was on God, not on His own particular difficulties. This shows, in my opinion, that He was rightly concerned about both sides of the grave. The nature of His prayer was such that He had put aside all of His earthly ambitions so that He could do that which He had been sent to do.

According to John 3:16 and numerous other passages, Jesus was here literally to die for all of humanity, and his example during those moments of agony provides to all of us an important principle for right living! Not only was He putting God first in His heart, mind, and soul, a principle which was just taught in Chapter Six, but He was also backing that attitude up with His own prayers and personal actions.

Notice that Jesus did not fall into that trap of putting Himself or His needs first! By expressing a genuine willingness to submit to His Father's will, He demonstrated to each of us how one can overcome the stress and anxieties which are so much a part of this life. A person must realize that the devil will always deceive and distract all individuals into thinking that they need lots of education, money, and things to have peace and happiness, but this is a lie! People do not need any of those things to be happy or to feel fulfilled.

The real need in a person's life is not for more education, at least not unless the Lord has called that person into a role which requires additional education. The need is also not for one of those fabulous, high paying, high power jobs, at least not unless the Lord has specifically placed that person in such a position so that he or she can better serve Him from there.

The reason people feel so much stress, anxiety, and pressure in this life is because they do not have the peace of God in and on their life. They have paid too much attention to the concerns which are on this side of the grave, and by so doing, have almost completely ignored the much more important matters of right spiritual living. The real key, therefore, to having the right approach to this life and also to living equally well on both sides of the grave is to totally submit oneself, as Jesus did, to the will of the Heavenly Father. And while such a solution might sound terribly basic or even trivial, it is one which works!

Unfortunately, the devil does not sit casually by and let a person pursue a well-balanced, spiritually right lifestyle. He will always try to discourage any action which seeks to bring a person closer to the Lord. In many cases, his technique is fear. By still using his same devices of deception and distraction, he can cause an individual to literally worry or fear about the physical needs of this life. That is why so many people have put such a high value on worldly things, like education, nice jobs, good careers, and money. We, as individuals, have been and are being tricked into thinking that the physical needs of today are somehow more important than the spiritual needs both of today and the future, but this is another lie of Satan!

In our scenario with the young person who had reached the top and gained it all, he or she in the end eventually died and left everything behind. Whether we like to hear such negative reports or not, each of us is headed for a very similar conclusion. Therefore, one should endeavor to not be so easily deceived or distracted by a very clever devil. Satan wants us to live only for today! He wants us to only concern ourselves with matters on this side of the grave. That is his goal, to do whatever he can or whatever it takes to keep us from the Lord. To combat him and all his methods, we must do as the theme of this discussion has prescribed. We must strive to live equally well on both sides of the grave!

To follow through on this simple approach to life, one must be able to trust the Lord in all things. The devil will try to cause a person to stumble by causing that person to fear for the physical needs of this life, but we can oppose Satan and rise above that fear by trusting the truth of God's Word. The Apostle Matthew, in quoting Jesus, gave us the information we need when he wrote the following:

"Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? Or, What shall we drink? Or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof." (Matthew 6:31-34)

Those who would pledge their all to follow Christ have a real challenge as they must thwart off the never ending attacks of Satan. The devil really is an awesome enemy! He is very good in this warfare against God. However, we have the encouragement, hope, and promise of many important Bible passages, including the one just given, where Jesus told His followers that God could and would take care of them. The only requirement for those early followers, as well as for us today, is that we seek Him first. After that, we become the blessed recipients of His marvelous provision.

I believe that the passage recorded in Matthew 22:37-39 is the most important in the Bible. It gives a positive command which all can understand, a command which tells us to love the Lord with all our heart, mind, and soul and to love our neighbor as ourselves. In this present world, with all the complexities of various religions, we need the simplicity of that easily understood instruction. But I believe that the above passage from Matthew, Chapter Six, is the second most important.

We live in a system where the stress and pressures of simple life are enormous. Plus, they are real! Just trying to make a living during these present times can be tough, and trying to keep perspective about what is truly important can be nearly impossible. But if we will just strive to live equally well on both sides of the grave by daily practicing the lessons of both passages, then we will have two very important spiritual principles to get us through. While on earth, Jesus emphasized and demonstrated both of these truths. He taught us to love our Heavenly Father above all and to love our neighbor as ourselves. He also taught us to seek God first and to trust Him for all our needs. As I pursue each day on this side of the grave, my intents and goals are to do exactly as He has taught concerning both of these life-giving principles.

One would do well to remember these simple, even simplistic conclusions. The devil tries to make us focus too heavily on matters on this side of the grave and focus too little on those on the other side. This is more of his well-disguised deception and distraction. But we can overcome him and be well prepared for both sides of the grave if we will consciously and purposely seek the Lord first and trust Him to orchestrate all aspects of our life.