For Best Results

For Best Results, Use As Directed

 

"For best results, use as directed" is a phrase that you have probably seen on a prescription bottle, in directions in food preparation, healing or cosmetic ointments, hair products, assembly instructions for electronic devices and the famous Christmas bicycle (Dads).  The phrase does not imply that the product or process will not get results or function. It does, however, say "For Best Results".  You have the option of getting less than the best results, if any.  Regardless of this caution, we still insist on adding an extra ingredient or leaving out a step. After all, we reason, "Do you really need all of those screws?"  "I have never heard of putting that much salt in anything."  "It doesn’t take all of that to do nothing."  "We have never done it that way."  "Did God really say, 'You must not eat from any tree in the garden?'?" (Genesis 3:1)  Independence, pride, and rebellion will always suggest that you have a better way than the manufacturer and author.

 

I submit that almost every human being on this planet desires to have freedom, safety, sufficient provision, health and long life for themselves and their loved ones. Mankind has devised a number of ways that he thinks is best. There is the monarchy system, communism, socialism, fascism, democracy, and republics, everything except the kingdom of God. Remember God, the creator of human beings. It is written in Genesis 1:26, "Then God said, 'Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground."   There is something about the human specie that causes them to deviate from the natural order of things.  God gave man his first commandment. "And the Lord God commanded the man, 'You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die." (Genesis 2:16-17) 

 Mankind insists that they know better than God, their creator. It is written: "When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it.  She also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate it.  Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.  Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden.  But the Lord God called to the man, "Where are you?"  He answered, 'I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.'" (Genesis 3:6-10)  

Mankind has been hiding from God ever since.  Insulating himself in humanism. Trying to convince himself that there is another way to God other than the way He prescribed.  "Then they said, 'Come, let us build ourselves a city with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of the whole earth.'" (Genesis 11:4)  We see sometimes even in the church today that people try to fashion a God that fits there sensibilities. They create a "Buffet Christianity". Pick what you like and leave the rest.  It is also written: "So all the people took off their earrings and brought them to Aaron.  He took what they handed him and made it into an idol cast in the shape of a calf, fashioning it with a tool.  Then they said, 'These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt .'" (Exodus 32:4)

 

There is also a need to get along with the world.  We don't want to seem weird or outdated.  We want to be hip and current. "They said to him, 'You are old, and your sons do not walk in your ways; now appoint a king to lead us, such as all the other nations have.  But when they said, 'Give us a king to lead us,' this displeased Samuel; so he prayed to the Lord.  And the Lord told him: Listen to all that the people are saying to you; it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king.  As they have done from the day I brought them up out of Egypt until this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are doing to you." (1st Samuel 8:5-8)  

 The irony is that the very world that we are trying to assimilate with is starving for the assurance, the power, and life giving structure given in the word and will of God.  Saul was commanded to destroy every Amalekite and their animals, but Saul decided to keep some stuff for himself and his men (1st Samuel 15:2-15)   Samuel the prophet replied: "Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the voice of the Lord?  To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams.  For rebellion is like the evil of idolatry.  Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, he has rejected you as king." (1st Samuel 15:22-23)  

The scriptures show that Saul did not lose his position immediately.  He ruled for some years after his disobedience. However, his end did arrive and his time as king was filled with fear, insecurities, and dread.  People are deceived into believing that deviating from God's way is not so bad and that they can still prosper. It is written: "Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him; do not fret when men succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes.  Refrain from anger and turn from wrath; do not fret? It leads only to evil.  For evil men will be cut off, but those who hope in the Lord will inherit the land." (Psalm 37:7-9)  It is written: "For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened.  Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.  Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another.  They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshipped and served created things rather than the Creator? Who is forever praised. Amen.  Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts.  Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones.  In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another.  Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion." (Romans 1:21-27) 

While there are people today who will say that the lifestyle mentioned above is not wrong and they can testify of the prosperity and happiness that they enjoy despite the warnings of God's word, the story is not over yet.  You can get by, but you can't get away.

 

 It is written: "All things are lawful for me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but all things edify not."  (1st Corinthians 10:23)  Smoking cigarettes, marijuana, cocaine and/or drinking alcohol are not specifically listed as sins, however as far as living healthy and long, use as directed. God has given mankind His word and His way for a prosperous life on earth and life eternal with Him.  However, God will not force us to follow His instructions.  Jesus said, "Let them who have ears hear."  God does not punish us when we deviate.  The natural order established from the beginning punishes us.  Our bodies are designed to function at optimum when we nourish and exercise it according to the directions given. 

 When we decide to make up our own way of taking care of ourselves, we get mixed results. For best results, use as directed.  It is written: "Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers.  But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night.  He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither.  Whatever he does prospers." (Psalm 1:1-3)  For a fulfilled life, for best results, live as directed by God's word.  Selah.

(Excerpt from "Selah:Think"  by Allen D. Edge) All Rights Reserved
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 Allen D. Edge is an actor, comedian, professional speaker, performance coach, ordained minister, and author of The Levite Today, The Levite Today uncovers the power of the arts in biblical communications in the past and the present. Allen blogs regularly at his blog site, http://tepinc.blogspot.com/ 

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