“You shall have no other gods before me.”—–mandatory

“You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain.”—–mandatory

He said “shall,” not “should.”—–mandatory

“Choose you this day whom you will serve.”—–voluntary

“You must be born again.”—–mandatory

“Follow Me“—–mandatory

“If you confess Jesus is Lord, you will be saved.”—–voluntary

“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, . . .”—–voluntary

“. . . but he who does the will of my Father, who is in heaven.”—–mandatory

“Husbands, love your wives.”—–mandatory

“Wives, submit to your husbands.”—–mandatory

“Children, obey your parents.”—–mandatory

“You shall eat the fruit of every tree in the garden . . . “—–mandatory

“. . . but you shall not eat the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden.”—–mandatory

 

From day one God gives lots of mandatory instructions (whether we like it or not), with one universal exception.  If you don’t like the way God set it up and explained it in the Bible, you do have a way out—very simply:

God does not override free will—voluntary

BUT,

He just has the last word, in everything.—–mandatory

 

And one more thing—suppose you want to be part of God’s people, but still want the option to do your own thing.  We can never sidestep or outsmart the “IF‘s” in the Bible, even if we are a part of His people.

“IF MY PEOPLE, who are called by My Name, will humble themselves, and pray, and seek My Face, and turn from their wicked ways; THEN I WILL hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and heal their land.”

Balanced—Life As It Should Be

Bipolar—Life As It Is

Which brings greater happiness?

Is happiness the goal?

Is “balanced” the goal?

 

“To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:

A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;

A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;

A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;

A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;

A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;

A time to tear, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;

A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.”          —–His Book

 

Most effort in life is spent trying to achieve balance.

Most advice from counselors directs us to work for balance.

What do we think balance looks like?

—smooth, fewer extremes, not too radical, not too placid

—financial:  retirement will finally bring balance after a lifetime of work

—financial:  savings, IRA’s, “guaranteed” income you can count on, balanced balance sheets

—emotional:  the right advice, more advice, the right therapist, the right medication

—relational:  friendships, “the” spouse to live with happily ever after

—physical:  health, fitness, medical checkups, early detection or else, health insurance

—political:  freedom, USA, July 4 parades (life as it should be, for a moment, balance)

—spiritual:  a bit more challenging, but “I’ve designed a balanced god of my own”

 

OR, is balance a myth?

There seems to be a rationale on both sides.

1)  Balance is a myth.  Accept reality.  Life isn’t fair.

2)  Don’t accept life as it is.  Fight.  Overcome.  Make your own balance.

 

Can you make enough money, save enough money, spend enough money, to make your money recession-proof, fire-proof, thief-proof, government-proof, greed-proof, death-proof?

Life Insurance is really Death Insurance—perhaps the only insurance with guaranteed conditions.

How many new books, how much new-and-improved advice does it take to answer life’s questions?

What can you do when other marriages last, and yours didn’t?  Where is balance then?

Some people have health, some don’t; some have success, some don’t; some have an easier life, some have a very hard life; some are blessed with a wonderful relationship with Jesus, some miss it.

 

Is there a bottom line?  Is there an answer to the question of  “Life—Balanced or Bipolar?”

One thing I know.  A simple answer will not come from my brain, or anyone else’s.

The Bible does not try to describe this life on earth as pretty.  But it does give two guarantees for life.

ONE—We can have sure hope for life after this one (which counts much more and lasts much longer) if we accept Jesus and what He did for us, dying on the cross and coming back to life so we can too.

TWO—We have His promise to be with us all the way through the ups and downs, the joys and the tragedies, the bipolar of life as we know it.

Balance?  Not now.  Not yet.  But more than balanced then.

The shortest summary of anyone’s life occurs on your tombstone in the form of a dash  ” – ” between two dates.  Everyone in the world gets the same treatment—no one puts a longer dash or a shorter one on a tombstone, or thicker or thinner.

There are some ways we are all the same.  We’re born, we live, we die.  We leave a dash, whether we dashed through life or led a slow and easygoing life, whether we conquered the world or felt conquered.

But there is so much more to that dash.

The dash determines our destiny.

Before the first date, we were indeed nothing.  Not so after the second date.  No matter how hard we try—with intellect, with money, with philosophy, with power—none of us can escape awareness of something after the second date on our tombstone.

Personal now, for the first time since I’ve been writing here nearly a year:  The dash determines your destiny.  And that means you answering the question, “What shall I do with Jesus?”

Jesus said, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life.”

Jesus said, “I am the Resurrection and the Life.”

Jesus said, “Follow me.”

Just talk to Him.  Don’t wait till the dash is over.  The second date is only the beginning.