As mentioned, there is a ditch on either side of the path of life, and they are opposites. Usually, legalism is on one side, and lawlessness is on the other. Many who fall off the path into one ditch often overreact and fall into the other ditch. Our goal must be to stay on the path of life and avoid either extreme.
There are other extremes that can become traps for us. Almost every Christian truth can be taken to an extreme and become a snare. We can also become so vision-oriented toward the future that we fail to focus on the day-to-day faithful disciplines of the faith. Or, we become so over-focused on the day-to-day that we lose our long-range vision. The key is to walk in an effective balance between these.
However, just because something is extreme, doesn’t mean it’s not true or that we shouldn’t live that way. Even basic discipleship to the Lord is extreme in many ways, and some of the greatest truths are extreme. Those who are lukewarm might consider devotion to the Lord extreme and even persecute those who have it. But how can we love God too much or be too devoted to knowing and serving Him?
I have prayed for and sought wisdom my whole life, and I have come to one conclusion: the greatest wisdom is to love God. The most accurate perspective on everything will come when we see from the perspective of loving God above all things. One thing I seek above all else is to grow in love for Him each day. I do this by seeking to know Him more, because we cannot learn anything about the One who is love without knowing and loving Him more.
Remember, “the main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing,” and loving God is our No. 1 job responsibility as human beings. The true success of our lives will be determined by how much we love Him. Doing all things for the sake of the One we love will give us the most accurate and fruitful perspective on life and cause us to make the right choices. If we will keep this as our top priority this year, it will be the best year of our lives, and each year after will keep getting better. As we are told, “But the path of the righteous is like the light of the dawn that shines brighter and brighter until the full day” (Proverbs 4:18).
Walking in a continually increasing light is the normal Christian life. If not, we have somehow drifted off course and must get back to where we made the wrong turn to get back on course. This is called “repentance.”
The play and the movie Godspell is very prophetic. It begins with John the Baptist blowing his trumpet in different places of a crowded city, but only those who are called can hear or see him. Those who hear and see come to him, and he leads them to Jesus. Jesus then leads them to a junkyard. There, they clean up the junkyard and turn it into a beautiful place while singing the hit song “Day by Day.”The lyrics to this song are, “see Him more clearly, love Him more dearly, and follow Him more nearly, day by day.” That is how the junkyards of our hearts are cleaned up—not year by year but day by day.
No matter how much time you have wasted or have left in this life, even if you are on your deathbed, you can still do this. Remember II Peter 3:8, “Do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day.” Among other things, this means God can accomplish in us in one day what we think may take a thousand years. He can even do it today if we give this day to Him. Never fail to seize the day—every day.
© 2023 Rick Joyner. All Rights Reserved.
