Why We Do the Things We Do

10/15/2008

“I don’t speak on my own authority. The Father who sent me gave me his own
instructions as to what I should say. And I know his instructions lead to eternal life;
so I say whatever the Father tells me to say!” John 12:49-50 (NLT)

Are we following the directions, are we reading the instructions, are we getting a clue? If not, we might need to spend a bit more time in the basic instructions before leaving earth manual.

A.K.A. The BIBLE. (“Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth” comes from the song, “Basic Instructions” by the group Burlap to Cashmere.)

Does life work the way it should? Will it eventually? When we are finished here, will we say, “Wow, that actually worked the way God designed it!” I guess I should say, “Re-designed it,” since we didn’t follow the directions the first time around when God said: “Don’t eat the fruit from that one tree…see it over there, that one!” And Eve said, “This one? CHOMP!” Even that one simple bit of instruction was not followed—and what followed was a world gone haywire because of it. Sin and more sin invaded our lives. Things went downhill so fast. Should we be surprised that our lives can get so messy, so quickly? I think not.

When the Instruction Book came along, God’s Word, it might have seemed complicated, but I don’t think God meant it to be. Maybe it’s not that it’s so complicated to follow, but that the problem is in obeying the things God has explained to us. Most times we want to do what we want to do, don’t we?

Perhaps it seems too simple, to just follow God’s set of instructions, but isn’t simple a good thing? Doesn’t it make matters of principle easier to stand on? God has made it clear as to how we are supposed to live our lives. When we ignore God’s instructions, aren’t we the ones who open the door to Mr. Trouble and invite him in? At least if we’re following the directions sent from God, we’ve got the door shut to the troublemaker. Sure, the enemy will stand and knock, and we’ll hear him…but we don’t have to answer!

The Instruction Book of life tells us about Heaven, and how to get in. It also tells us how life should be lived while we’re here. These things are explained for our own good, for our own happiness, and for our eternal destiny. Who doesn’t want to live loved and forgiven both here and forevermore? God has shown us how to conduct our lives here as we make our way there. When we veer from God’s ways, we make things a lot harder on ourselves than they need to be. This is not to say that life here will be perfect if we follow God’s perfect plan—this is not a perfect world anymore, so we can’t expect life here to be perfect. But we can expect it to be full of God’s love, and care, and concern and miracles along the way when we are focused on all He is, and all He is doing each day.

Why we do the things we do? Hopefully, because it’s God’s way, and His ways are high and holy and have been planned out in His wisdom. And ultimately, God’s ways work out better for not only our lives here, but our eternal life in our eternal Home. Isn’t that reason enough?