Two people that I know well are now headed to prison for activities related to their addiction. Honestly, I don’t know that many people. I find that horrific based on the number of people that I know. It begins with a little _______, but it escalates into an uncontrollable monster inside them.
The Bible says to “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.”
We need to avoid the fate of these two people. Step one is to consider memorizing the above passage. It is smart to fear going to prison. It is smart to fear what God thinks about how we are acting. It is smart to fear how God may react to how we are acting.
Step two is daily Bible reading.
Next, Solomon said to keep God’s commands because:
“14 For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.”
Second, people who pay close attention to obedience and purpose are people who are on the path toward joy. Even if your life is a complete train wreck right now… If you do these two things all month you will be on a straight path toward increased joy. If you do them all year, you will have more joy than rich, successful people.
Third, all my friends are out of town this weekend. I have the option to play the fool, and pick short-term fun with destruction added, or to choose joy, and purpose for the weekend, and keep my joy for the week, month, and year. Consider praying:
“Father, teach me to remember that my joy will be ruined for a time period by the wrong road. I will work, pray, and fight to stay on the right path.”
Finally, I will use this difficult weekend to fight to increase my long-term joy by the techniques described above and by praying to increase in love.
Actually, my best friend is still here. His name is Jesus Christ. It should be a great weekend after all.
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