The Truth About Right Living - A Personal Observation

Over these past twenty-five plus years, the proof for me truly has been in the pudding. In December 1967, when my spiritual journey began, I saw myself in the midst of many troubles. At that time, I could not see a remedy for all of my difficulties, and I certainly did not know what to do to fix those things which were wrong with me. Eventually, out of utter, complete desperation, I called upon the Lord and asked for His help.

From a theological standpoint, I did not even know what I was doing! I did not know the truth about God, Jesus, or the Bible, and I obviously did not know anything about any kind of spiritual warfare between God and Satan. There were many, many things which I did not know, yet on the much smaller scale of my own life, I did know at least three things. I knew that I was in trouble, I knew that I needed help, and I knew that more than anything that I wanted God in my life! With nothing more to go on than those few thoughts and emotions, I sought the Lord. And like the promises that are recorded in Jeremiah 29:13-14, He came through for me, not only then, but He has continued to do so ever since.

People who live in this country enjoy a great amount of personal freedom. As adults, we usually do not have, apart from our employment that is, others telling us where to go, when to be there, or what to do. We are allowed to enjoy the benefits of a democratic government, plus we are given the opportunity to make many choices for ourselves. Theologically speaking, the same statements about freedom hold true. Those in Christ and even those not in Him can choose whether or not to serve Him, also they can choose the level to which they will serve. In December 1967, no one made me take God. But based on my own situation at that time, I reached my own conclusions, made my own decisions, and then acted accordingly.

In the spiritual realm, as in the political realm of a democracy, people are allowed to choose. God loves us, and He allows us the freedom to make many or even most of our own decisions. One of the purposes of this book, therefore, has been to equip every individual with enough good data about right living so that he or she can make intelligent, logical choices about the Lord, rather than having to rely solely on the biased data of this system around us, a system which does not love, need or want God.

Nevertheless, either because of a misunderstanding of the data or because of poor decision-making skills, many people still make bad, unwise decisions, and on many of those occasions, the consequences of those bad decisions can be and are quite serious, as the examples below show.

For starters, a person can choose to live recklessly and squander all that the Lord has entrusted to them. If that unwise choice is made, then that individual may never reach the point of comprehending the importance of stewardship or of realizing his or her responsibility as a caregiver before the Lord. The result, then, would most likely be a lifestyle which crosses somewhere between poverty and hedonism, and the individual concerned would probably never even realize what is happening.

A general problem of our civilization is that most people have an accumulation-mode mentality. They want to have, they want to enjoy, and they want to multiply and stockpile their goods and riches. But they give very little thought to such things as whether or not they are being good stewards before God! A large segment of society does not realize that there is such a thing as being spiritually accountable for the handling of one's life and possessions, but the truth is that God expects each of us to take care of those things which He has entrusted to us.

Next, concerning the types of bad spiritual decisions which people make, a person can unwisely choose to consume his or her entire life trying to gain all the world's goods. This individual may or may not succeed in such an undertaking. But really, success or failure is not the issue, plus the end result is not actually that important, either. What is important is that with success, the person often finds that "enough" is not sufficiently bounded, which in a mathematical sense means that one can never have enough! With failure or with not being able to acquire very much, a person usually experiences the other extreme and becomes discouraged and disillusioned about life.

Either way, the conclusion is still much the same - unhappiness and dissatisfaction! The devil would have people believe that happiness and joy are somehow tied to being well off and having much. But the truth is that an individual would be better off and much happier doing with his or her life exactly as the Lord wishes, rather than to pursue all the things of this world. Genuine happiness and joy are not related to the possession of worldly goods! Therefore, the most logical attitude, in my opinion, about worldly possessions, good jobs, and so forth is to have what God wants you to have and then to do with those possessions what He wants to be done.

A third type of bad spiritual decision is that an individual can make the unwise choice of rejecting Christ and all that He has done. An example of this is that a person can intellectually comprehend the importance of Jesus as Sacrifice and even acknowledge His qualifications as Saviour, yet still reject those biblical truths. But the truth is that God loves each of us, and much more than He needs us, we very much need Him! A careful study of Scriptures by anyone with the right attitude, in the right spirit, will show that the sin gap with God is real and that only Jesus can close that gap. Therefore, each of us, as individuals, needs to acknowledge our genuine personal need for Him!

Next, a person can unwisely decide to reject the superior evidences for Christianity and believe the lesser truths of other faiths. For instance, an individual can study the various religions of the world and then, simply by ignoring or failing to realize that the Resurrection of Jesus is the all-important discriminator which sets Christianity apart, incorrectly conclude that one belief is as good as another. As a result of that unwise choice, such an individual might then decide to live a wonderfully clean and pure life, so as to please the god of their imagination. Or that person might go the other way and choose to ignor all such matters and then even ignor the reality of eternity, itself. But the truth is that Christ is the Way, and He is the only Way! No other path in this life brings the genuine, lasting joy of a close walk with Him, plus no other path in this life can bring an individual back into a peaceful, right relationship with his or her Heavenly Father.

Lastly, a person can unwisely choose to reject the superior evidences for God's existence, for Jesus as Lord, and for the validity of the Bible and instead settle for the unproven theories of Science. Admittedly, Science has put together a fairly convincing case. Scientists tell interesting stories about how life began, they produce video graphics and use big words to explain their theories, and they use the power of mathematics, physics, and computers to make their beliefs look even more credible. Yet, despite all of these things, their theories still back up to an unknown origin, one which cannot be proven even by using their own rules.

All that they have really done and all that they can really do is hypothesize! None of the basic, scientific premises about our origin have been shown to be true, and in my opinion, none of them ever will be! Therefore, their unsubstantiated claims about the origins of this life should not be treated as valid, and they certainly should not be taught as fact to innocent, naive school children. The truth about all of this, which is so abundantly clear to me, is that God is real, Jesus is Lord, and the Bible is true. Everything else is only unproven, unsubstantiated speculation!

Once again, the proof for me is in the pudding. A careful scrutiny of all of the information shows that Christianity has the superior evidence. Added to this is the fact that I and many others have by experience learned these truths firsthand. As a nineteen year old kid, in more trouble than I care to remember, I chose God. I did not even understand what I was doing! However, twenty-five plus years later, I am still glad that I made that all-important choice. My only regret is that I had wasted those first nineteen years.

Today, while many fear and dread the reality of death, I, because of my hope in Christ, can actually look forward to my eternity on the other side of the grave. Today, while many puzzle over how we got here, what we are doing here, and where we are going, I can have total satisfaction about all of these matters and not once be bothered by even one of them. In closing, I would encourage each individual to make his or her own choices about the Lord with great care, using the intelligence and wisdom the He has given. Any decisions, however, should be made based on all the information, not on just the distorted stuff which this system around us wants us to have!

Love the Lord thy God with all your heart, mind, and soul. Love your neighbor as you love yourself. Trust the Lord to satisfy all the needs of your life. Then, try to be the best steward of your life and possessions that you can be. The person who practices these three principles for right living will enjoy the abundant life that Jesus spoke about in John 10:10. That person will also not be taken in by any of the five problems which were earlier attributed to the system around us. Jesus is the Way. He is the only Way!