Home Depot and English DIY stores are full of guidance. Self-help is plentiful on all fronts; the net, bookstores, and even many religions offer a variation on the 12 steps to happiness and better living. Some insist that their way is the one and only way. Others suggest that there are many ways to better living; try their way on, it might fit. How can anyone figure out what is best for their life?
When I choose a body shop, the first thing I want is to see examples of their work. When I scan through CDs and books, I evaluate the potential by the works of the past. When I look to hire, I ask questions about experience and actual results. If the topic is woodworking, I just take a glance at the details of the last project and everything is clear. Does this work with God to?
You could suggest, as many do, that one just need to look at the most recent person claiming to be converted. Look, evaluate, and make a judgement. The problem with this approach is that people tend to be fatally flawed and selfish; it that something God causes or merely a byproduct of being human? The biblical God suggests that the measure of all gods, beliefs, and lives should be the outcome or results. If they are full of compassion, acceptance, mercy, love, grace, and forgiveness then, and only then, are they of the biblical God. I find so few examples it is easy to believe the suggestion that this is merely the result of good people living life.
On closer examination, a greater truth is waiting for us to understood and live. God reaches out, consistently, to every human being regardless of his or her most recent choice or action. He hates our acts of self but loves us unconditionally. He is consistently reaching out to you and to I.
There is only on answer. “Listen for God's voice in everything you do, everywhere you go; he's the one who will keep you on track.” (Proverbs 3.6)
