Not putting our hands on the handle of our lives means that we are likely to lose it and if we do, it can be fatal. It would be too late to make a comeback. Much damage could have been done to ourselves and our lives for wanting to live it out our own way. That is what in the first instance God would like to avoid. When God gives us a warning either through his Word or through a dream or a messenger he is using one of three mediums of communication that we are familiar with. Yet many will turn their heads as if this warning is not for me; or turn a deaf ear in protest. Whatever the stand we take in life, the warnings would not cease to be hurled at us in order to bring us to our knees. In other words God, will not stop speaking and appealing to our sense of responsibility and the need for us to live lives worthy of our calling.
I had the right not to heed the advice of the expatriate whose path I crossed. He could have observed, just shaken his head in wonder and continued on his way saying to himself 'O the children of this day.' No, he took one step further. He let me know that the activity I was engaged in could be my ruin. He could have said it is none of his business and stopped at that. No, he knew the danger of letting go off the handle of our lives and needed to call me to order and gain my attention.
God has a right to interfere in our lives because he made us, and all creation belongs to him. Yet there are instances when we decide to push him aside with a 'leave me alone attitude.' When that happens, God willingly steps aside and watches how we progress. Our Lord Jesus is not far away from us. He stated and the offer is still valid: "Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me." (Revelation 3.20) Would that sound like interference?
When the prodigal son wanted to take leave of his father in a bid to explore the world, he departed with his share of inheritance. He had decided to take his hands of the handle and do he thought seemed right. The experiment failed bitterly. "When he came to his senses, he said, how many of my father's hired men have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! I will arise and will go to my father and will say to him Father I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son, make me like one of your hired men. So he got up and went to his father." (Luke 15:17-20)
No one can live a life independent of God and be at peace or be happy in the real sense of the word. Any form of happiness could be a fleeting sensation and no sooner we come to our senses do we feel regret and shame. Fool hardiness is characteristic of young people. Their intelligence, youthfulness and drive blind them to the risks of life and the need to step carefully. How many times have we heard young people say this is a different generation? There are no two ways to living. The age gaps may be wide, the facilities and amenities far apart but the life we have to live is just one and that is what each and every one of us has to remember.
What is the purpose of my life, why am I here? These questions should constantly exercise our minds and gradually point us to time-tested solutions and draw us to the right path - the one - God in his infinite goodness and mercy, has laid down for us. There are no shortcuts in life if we care to live our lives fully. Our Lord Jesus declared: "I have come that they (you) may have life and have it to the full." (John 10:10b)
There is one direction we must go in order not to falter and that is the way, the truth and the life in Christ Jesus. Jesus did not say he is one of the many ways to proper living, He stated categorically: "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." (John 14:6)
The Bible is fraught with words of warning about how to live and what to do to inherit eternal life. What is more, the invitation is to all. Read the Word of God in order to live. God is calling you and me for personal cleansing. "Come now, let us reason together," says the Lord. "Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow, though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool." (Isaiah 1:18)
Some of the choices we have to make in life cannot wait. God is saying to you, reader: "See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live." (Deuteronomy 30:19)
God has given us a special task to accomplish. Do you feel up to it? He says he will hold us responsible for letting others go astray. We therefore have a role to play in dissuading people from riding through life without putting their hands on the handle. "When I say to a wicked man, 'you will surely die,' and you do not warn him or speak out to dissuade him from his evil ways in order to save his life, that wicked man will die for his sin, and I will hold you accountable for his blood. (Ezekiel 3:18) "But if you do warn the wicked man to turn from his ways and he does not do so, he will die for his own sin, but you will have saved yourself." (Ezekiel 33:9)
The world at large needs to hear of God's message because it speaks of life. Our Lord Jesus declared: "The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life." (John 6.63) Our lives are not determined by the kind of food we eat but by every word that has come from the mouth of God. (Matthew 4:4) Whether we will put it into practice will decide on the quality kind of life we want to live.
Let us hold fast to the Word of God as we would the handle of a bicycle so that we will not fall. Let us exercise our level of faith as a means of getting to our destination which is heaven. In putting your hand to the handle look to Jesus for your all. For he is our all in all.
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