- T.I. feat. Rhihanna (with a special shout-out to O-Zone because you know it was your beat that made that song rock.)
Last night, I was feeling rather blah... like, discouraged and unsatisfied with my life. And so my fiance told me to read the bible. While I was reading, I came across these verses:
"Be very careful, then, how you live - not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity because the days are evil." [Ephesians 5:15-16]
For some reason, I had previously underlined the second half of this sentence. I quickly underlined the first part, because really they go together. It struck me as different than when I had previously read it, I guess. The first thing I thought about were those people that will tell you to just go for it, just do what you want to do, live how you want to live, "because you only get one life, baby, so you might as well."
This ideology always bothered me for some reason, but I was never really sure why. I mean, it should make sense, right? You only have one life to live, you should live it to the fullest. But there's something more to it. The fact is, it's not always wise to take all those risks, to "live the way I want." And that is why it boggles me that I didn't originally have that first part of the verse underlined.
Sometimes you have to ask yourself what you're really living for. Are you living for the never-ending party? Are you just waiting for the next big risk for you to take? Do you live recklessly because you figure a careful life would be dull and you know you won't get to re-live your life?
A better question is: are you ready to meet the end of your life?
The problem is necessarily that we go for what we want. The problem comes when we can't distinguish between a worthwhile endeavour and a fruitless one. Granted, sometimes it can be hard to tell sometimes. But usually not. Most people ignore the fact that they really are wasting time, because they want to waste their time that way. Hey, whatever you do is up to you, and I'm not going to stop you, okay?
The second verse tells us to make the "most of every opportunity." Now, if I may expand on this statement, I would like to. I don't think this literally means you need to take every single opportunity offered to you ever. That be the reason for the preceding verse, why you need to be able to discern between wise and unwise decisions.
The follow-up verse will help me out here. Verse 17 reads: "Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord's will is." So if I take all three verses together, I get the idea that we are to take every opportunity to do the Lord's will. Not just taking random opportunities. That would mean, for example, that every time I walk along the road I could take the opportunity to kill myself by walking right into a car. That would be foolish and not the Lord's will.
Unfortunately, every decision isn't as easy or intuitive as whether or not I should throw myself into traffic. If it were, the world would be in a far, far better place. So how does one get to that place where every decision, every move, every opportunity is easily decided upon? Pray for wisdom, I suppose. God doesn't hold back when you ask for it, and there's no reason He shouldn't grant you wisdom to deal with life.
So I guess that's what I've been thinking about. I want to live right, but I also don't want to hold back. Obviously there is a fine line somewhere and sometimes I have a hard time finding it. Sometimes, on the other hand, it's as clear as a car coming down the street. I hope Iget a lot more like that, but I doubt I actually will.
No tellin' where it'll take ya.
Last night, I was feeling rather blah... like, discouraged and unsatisfied with my life. And so my fiance told me to read the bible. While I was reading, I came across these verses:
"Be very careful, then, how you live - not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity because the days are evil." [Ephesians 5:15-16]
For some reason, I had previously underlined the second half of this sentence. I quickly underlined the first part, because really they go together. It struck me as different than when I had previously read it, I guess. The first thing I thought about were those people that will tell you to just go for it, just do what you want to do, live how you want to live, "because you only get one life, baby, so you might as well."
This ideology always bothered me for some reason, but I was never really sure why. I mean, it should make sense, right? You only have one life to live, you should live it to the fullest. But there's something more to it. The fact is, it's not always wise to take all those risks, to "live the way I want." And that is why it boggles me that I didn't originally have that first part of the verse underlined.
Sometimes you have to ask yourself what you're really living for. Are you living for the never-ending party? Are you just waiting for the next big risk for you to take? Do you live recklessly because you figure a careful life would be dull and you know you won't get to re-live your life?
A better question is: are you ready to meet the end of your life?
The problem is necessarily that we go for what we want. The problem comes when we can't distinguish between a worthwhile endeavour and a fruitless one. Granted, sometimes it can be hard to tell sometimes. But usually not. Most people ignore the fact that they really are wasting time, because they want to waste their time that way. Hey, whatever you do is up to you, and I'm not going to stop you, okay?
The second verse tells us to make the "most of every opportunity." Now, if I may expand on this statement, I would like to. I don't think this literally means you need to take every single opportunity offered to you ever. That be the reason for the preceding verse, why you need to be able to discern between wise and unwise decisions.
The follow-up verse will help me out here. Verse 17 reads: "Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord's will is." So if I take all three verses together, I get the idea that we are to take every opportunity to do the Lord's will. Not just taking random opportunities. That would mean, for example, that every time I walk along the road I could take the opportunity to kill myself by walking right into a car. That would be foolish and not the Lord's will.
Unfortunately, every decision isn't as easy or intuitive as whether or not I should throw myself into traffic. If it were, the world would be in a far, far better place. So how does one get to that place where every decision, every move, every opportunity is easily decided upon? Pray for wisdom, I suppose. God doesn't hold back when you ask for it, and there's no reason He shouldn't grant you wisdom to deal with life.
So I guess that's what I've been thinking about. I want to live right, but I also don't want to hold back. Obviously there is a fine line somewhere and sometimes I have a hard time finding it. Sometimes, on the other hand, it's as clear as a car coming down the street. I hope Iget a lot more like that, but I doubt I actually will.
No tellin' where it'll take ya.
