by ALCAP | Tuesday, June 23, 2015
Dr. James Dobson once commented that people spend their lives looking for success, then “they realize too late that they have frantically climbed the ladder of success, only to discover that it was leaning against the wrong wall.”
Jack Anderson, the famed syndicated columnist spoke on my college campus. Over and over again he said that “there are no easy answers” to the problems in our world, as an idealistic college student, I thought, Yes, there are, you just don’t know them. I soon found out he was right.
Since each of us has to live in a world with no easy answers, I suggest that we find some solid solutions to the major question of all, what is your life?
1. You can choose to be what you want to be. We are often told we can be and should be your own person and do your own thing your own way without thought or responsibility to others.
As a child, I remember well the advice of Jiminy Cricket who said, “Always let your conscience be your guide.” I was bothered by that, because I know that I am not always right. I need to have someone who is more mature and disciplined than I am to help me with the significant decisions in life.
One young man with an economic priority came to Jesus and asked “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus told him, “Go sell what you have, and give to the poor… and come, follow me.” (Mark 10:17-22). Jesus knew that his man needed to change the economic priority before he could make God his top priority.
When Jesus stood before Pilate, Pilate saw that Jesus was innocent. However, he chose to operate out of a political priority to save himself from political ruin.
You might choose a physical, financial or social priority; but when you do, God takes second place.
2. You can choose to be what others want you to be. The person who responds by saying, “We will go,” finds security in group decisions. Charlie Brown was always, for me, and an example of individual with no backbone. He is destroyed by rejection.
An insecure person can sneak through life this way. He may feel that something is wrong with him and that other people have all the answers. He is willing to try anything someone else suggests. He lets the majority rule. The problem is that the majority is often wrong.
3. You can be what God wants you to be if you follow His will. Realistically you will combine some of both of the above ideas. You have to have your own identity. You also need social responsibility to others. However, you must determine what your life will be.
One of the saddest aspects of our current era is that we are the busiest yet most bored people in the world. One suggestion for resolving boredom is to diversify your interests and involvements into areas and activities that are beyond your normal routine. Making a commitment to some idea or goal outside one’s familiar world, finding a new challenge, can end boredom almost immediately.
I have a challenge to suggest. Give your life to Jesus Christ and become a child of God. This will provide certainty in an uncertain world. You then can be what God wants you be if you seek His will and direction in your life. Be careful of living life in an attitude of false self-confidence. Be careful, you are only like the morning fog, only God is eternal. He knows you and holds the future. He will help you plan better than you can plan for yourself.
Therefore, when it comes to your future, having success is not as important as being able to answer the question, “What is your Life?’
