In this generation it is easy to wish for many things. But you will have to choose between a luxurious life of enjoying all of life’s pleasures, and a life in which you do the perfect will of God. Perhaps you are wondering, “Why must I choose? Why is it such an issue? As long as I make extra money, why can’t I drive a fine car? Why can’t I satisfy that cry in my heart for luxuries and for a place of importance?”
There is a very simple reason why you cannot do it. Paul instructed Timothy: Suffer hardship with me, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life, so that he may please the one who enlisted him as a soldier. 2 Timothy 2:3–4.
The complication of an individual’s life is the greatest enemy of discipleship. Rare is the individual who is so gifted that he can be involved with many pursuits in life and still be a real disciple, because those two aspects of life war against each other. The apostle Paul, I believe, had that capability. The Word tells how he labored with his hands and provided for his own needs and for those who were with him. Paul not only did the work of an apostle, but when it was necessary, he made tents to support himself, as well as the apostolic company. This is why he said that he labored and ministered day and night (2 Thessalonians 3:8). Paul must have had a tremendous drive and dedication to be able to do this. Rarely can a person give himself adequately in two directions.
We commend a brother who is able to hold down a job involving many demands upon him, while also giving his total effort to the church. This requires dedication. Suppose his life were a little more complicated. Suppose he took up a hobby and invested in equipment. Then, to keep fit, suppose he went in for sports and tried to work up to local championships. Can one be torn in so many directions?
What takes place in the life of a person who is dedicated to work for the Lord? His job is cut out for him; he has time for very little else. If he is encumbered with many bills and monthly payments, if there are many pursuits and friendships demanding his time, then little by little he will have to get rid of these things that are complicating his life. Only then will he be effective in the ministry that he is to fulfill.
Like Paul, you must suffer hardship as a good soldier of Christ Jesus and not become entangled in the affairs of this life. You cannot complicate your life. When you become involved with the world, too many interests nag at you, and your spiritual level goes down.
What causes many a young person to lose out with the Lord? Instead of going on to college to get a good education after he gets out of high school, he gets a job because the money appeals to him. Next he buys a car, often one that is much more expensive and luxurious than he needs. But because it is his first car, he wants it to be really nice. Now he is trapped and must think about getting a second job to keep up the payments and insurance. Then he buys new clothes, and to pay for them he must borrow money. After all of this, he may find the Lord dealing with his heart about going back to school. Two out of three young people who come for counsel find that their spiritual life is draining away because of these problems.
This move of God is not a matter of competition. Our young people are not totally absorbed with becoming involved romantically. They are concerned that their relationship is in the will of the Lord. When they know that a certain person is in the will of God for them and the time is right, then they get married. In this move, courtship is different than it is in the world. Our young people are a serious generation, determined to do the will of the Lord.
When this end-time move first began, we were directed by prophecy not to buy on the installment plan unless it was absolutely necessary. We were not to abuse credit, and we were to use it as little as possible. We wondered why, because everyone who used credit seemed to be prospering at that time. However, when the pressure was on, we saw that the ministries who came forth were those whose lives were not complicated with debts and monthly payments. The others could not give the sacrificial offerings that God demanded, because they were spending their income several years in advance.
A walk with God is very demanding. There is no time to play around. However, there is enough time to do the will of the Lord. Instead of wasting an extra half hour, spend it in the Word and in prayer. One basic thing you must do is to come before the Lord and curb the crying of your soul: “I want this; I want that.” That was Adam’s song, and Eve taught it to him. Disobedience comes through desire. Christ overcame desire. When He was fasting in the wilderness, Satan came to Him and said, “If You are the Son of God, turn these stones into bread.” Although the Lord was hungry, He refused to be tempted. He told Satan, “Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:1–4). This must be the philosophy that you follow if you want to make your walk with God what it should be to you.
If you want to walk in the victories and blessings that God gives, you cannot complicate your life. Start cutting down on all the foolish demands on your time, energy, and money, and decide who you want to be and what you want to do. A good soldier does not go to battle with a big console television strapped on his back. He leaves it at home. When a soldier goes to battle, he takes only what he absolutely needs. Invariably, when people go on a trip they pack too much. Let us get rid of the excess baggage and begin to think like soldiers. We must seek first the Kingdom of heaven and eliminate the other things.
This thinking was one of the qualifications for discipleship. When Jesus said, “Leave all and follow Me,” it was not because He was opposed to the disciples having possessions. He said it because at that time their lives were too complicated for them to be good disciples. Discipleship is very demanding.
The same can be said for the marriage relationship. A woman who has a successful business, who is creative and involved with many interests, may have little interest in providing the kind of home life that a man desires. She is probably not the wife he is looking for. Married life would be demanding, and her life is already too full.
When you say, “Lord, I want to be Your disciple,” be sure you realize that it is a full-time job. When Jesus told the disciples to leave all and follow Him, it was not because the things they were involved with were not good. It was not a matter of giving up a lot of evil things in order to pursue after the Lord; those were good and valid interests that they were asked to give up. When you give yourself wholly to the Lord, you reach the inevitable spiritual level which demands that same kind of discipleship. You must do this with prophecies, too. Meditate on them. Give yourself wholly to them, that your profiting may appear to all (1 Timothy 4:15). You cannot be halfhearted. You cannot be so occupied and busy with other interests that you only come to service on Sunday.
School can be a drain on young people. It comes at them like a tidal wave and makes unbelievable demands on their mind and their time. They need the education, but they must also find a way to put the Lord first. Anyone who is going to school must first of all simplify his life. He must get rid of the complications until he puts God first.
Sometimes people fear that they will be lonely and bored if their life is not filled with many interests. That is a foolish idea. What they need is time to meditate on the Lord. Young girls often think that they will become antiquated unless they have dates all the time. Do not think that way. You need extra time to think God’s thoughts, to read His words and listen to Him. You need time to become a handmaiden or a bond servant of the Lord Jesus Christ. This does not happen to people who have full, rich lives exclusive of God. Such people find that their lives are too complicated to make it.
Find the real meaning for your life. Do not try to merely exist or fill it full of nonessentials. Live every day to its fullest. Find the will of God for your life and fulfill it in the Lord. To do this, you will have to eliminate the complications and simplify your life, dedicating it to the Lord. When you do this, your ministry will come forth.
It is good for a man that he should bear the yoke in his youth. Lamentations 3:27. Those who learn to do this will come through when they are under pressure and stress. God gave me a hunger and a love for the Word when I was quite young. I can remember turning down hayrides and parties because I was fascinated with reading the Word. At the age of fifteen, I learned to type; then I typed sermon notes for my father, who was just starting out in the ministry at that time. I had only so much time to get this done and still keep up with my school work. I was carrying the yoke in my youth. Soon I could quote Scriptures and preach the Word, while others who were my age were just then thinking about going into a seminary to learn how to preach. I went to school for a different purpose—not to learn how to preach, but to fill in the things that I knew I had to learn. Because of this, there was a great drive and purpose in my education.
I faced the same temptations that the other young people faced. Sometimes when I saw the glamorous life and the fun everyone else was having, I thought, “Maybe I am missing something!” I did miss something, and when I finally realized what it was, I was grateful to the Lord. Today’s young people should realize that getting into drugs and worldly music will not give their lives any meaning. It will only help them tune in to that which creates rebellion.
This move of God is an absolute contradiction and rebuke to this age and its trends. In his day, Noah became a living rebuke to everyone who lived on the face of the earth, every human being whose ways were violent and corrupt before God. By working for one hundred and twenty years on the ark, that one man condemned the entire world because he acted in obedience to God. He looked foolish and out of step, but actually he was the only one in the whole universe who was in step with God.
Would you like to become fluent in prophecy? Would you like to move into a ministry or he a part of a new church that is coming up? The only way you will be able to do this is by pursuing the necessary dedication and simplified life. God will always meet you if you seek Him first. You must get rid of the complications and distractions, and concentrate on doing the will of the Lord.
When too many things are demanded of you, you must firmly eliminate those that are not as essential as others. The way to do the will of God is to find out what God wants you to do and then do it. This is not done just by removing the evil things from your life; you must examine all the things which you think are good pursuits and interests, and start chopping out the good things in—order to do the better. Then throw out the better things for the best, until your life is sorted out and you are doing the best you know how in the will of God.
A man who is successful and makes money in stocks and bonds has learned to choose certain stocks. He buys here and there, but he always sells his good stock to buy that which is better. He keeps bargaining until finally he has the best investment he can make. He puts his money where it will bring the greatest return. That is what you must do with your life. Live it for the Lord with all of your heart. You cannot do that by scattering it in many directions. We are effective because we do not spend our time doing many good things; we are too busy doing the best things. Those good things are the best some people have; they have nothing better. We have something better, and so we always sacrifice the lesser for the greater. This is a rule and a law of discipleship.