LIVING AS GOD INTENDED

Akin my friend had just bought a beautiful new car, (his 1st actually) .As he drove away from the dealership, the salesman's final word was: "Remember, sir, to read the manual. It will tell you how to get the best performance out of your car." Akin wasn't interested though, he just wanted to drive his car as fast & as far as he could. His attitude was: "What authority do the manufacturers have to tell me how to use my car? "
   In one sense though, my friend was right. The manufacturers had no legal authority to make him read the manual, their authority was based on knowledge: They had designed the car, and they knew how it worked and how to care for it. Akin understood their perspective only too well when he burned out the engine a few months later.
Now change the characters. That book you read or would love to study every morning, the one probably next to you as you read this article is the "Manufacturer's Instructions " on life. Our Creator has given us the Bible to help us understand how to live. He doesn't force us to read it, but we would be foolish if we don't.
Of course, this analogy is limited. God does have authority over us and will one day hold us accountable for our actions. Through the centuries, he's given good laws to guide his people into a life -giving relationship with him.
     God's law thought the Israelites how their personal & social lives should reflect his holiness, how their broken relationships could be restored, and how they could be set apart as a unique people. The Ten commandments are the summary of his law. He also gave "case laws " that are specific examples of how the laws were to be applied. Embodied in all these laws is the message Moses gave Israel at the end of his life: "I have set before you life and death, blessings & curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live " (Deuteronomy 30:19) May I affirm strongly at this juncture that: By following God's ways we are choosing life!
    The good life is an ideal that the Bible continually sets before us. It's what life was like in the Garden of Eden. With disobedience came death and separation from God, the source of life. A world emerged that was completely out of accord with God's purposes. But he never gave up! His righteous laws held out hope for "The good life "-both now and in the future. The vision proclaimed by Isaiah must surely be one of the most powerfully touching in the Bible. It describes a time of joy, abundance and harmony with the Creator.
     When Jesus came to this earth, that good life became even more near to us because Jesus broke the curse of sin and death that was causing the earth to decay. The good life can begin right now for anyone who will lay hold of the promises of God. And when we've lived this life to the fullest, we have an even better fulfillment of a promise to inherit - The joy of spending eternity with our maker.
I am certainly looking forward to such times!!!!