Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. (Isa 55:7-9)The two "ways" are the Law of God and the law of sin: "With the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin" (Rom 7:25). People think of the Law of God as regulations and commands. However, there is only one Law and that is to love. That four-letter word seems so difficult to understand that preachers diverge to Greek for understanding. Love is merely "wanting that none should perish" (John 3:16) just as God wants that none should. In opposite polarity is that Satan desires that all should perish. Therein are the Law of God and the law of sin.
Sins such as fornication are not caring that you nor the other person may perish. With that sin, people sin against their own bodies (1 Cor 6:18). Yes, people can sin against themselves which means that fornication is not caring whether they die or not! That is self-hatred but naïve people think they are enjoying life.
The traffic signal of the will is the decision process to do things God's Way or our way. The will is designed unbiased; it can decide for the person which way to go based on inputs. Those inputs are the thoughts of people.
Thoughts can do one of five things: (1) tempt, (2) dissuade, (3) sin vicariously, (4) emote feelings of guilt, or (5) relieve anxiety.
Temptation is from God but the tempter is from Satan. Satan does not tempt but has instilled a propensity or biasness toward sin. The forbidden fruit that Adam and Eve ate instilled within them the desire to sin. The things of the world work on the lusts of the flesh, eyes, and pride to induce sin. (1 John 2:16). Satan is not a god and cannot make you do anything. He did bestow upon you the perception that you are as gods (Gen 3:5). Mankind, hence, is programmed to do the law of sin, and life is tribulation; people constantly must make choices, and that, indeed, is stressful as the flesh wars against the Spirit (Mat 26:41).
To be honest, people relieve stress by asking God for deliverance from temptation, or succumbing to temptation. Pleasurable sin, for a moment, relieves the decision-making process, and the will gives in, taking a short break until the next temptation. However, once sin is committed, God convicts those who are still malleable and can still feel remorse. Guilt precipitates remorse, and that too is from God. Satan is not the author of anything; he merely misapplies what is from God. It was God who endowed mankind with a conscience, not Satan. It is God who is Creator, not Satan. Desist from giving Satan more power than he has!
The Way of the Lord is from the Law of God, and His Way is the avenue named "love." Our way, is just that. Satan is satisfied not to be God and have his own rules, but to abuse the law of love. Satan is satisfied if people think and do things their way rather than God's Way.
By oneself, it is tough to do things the Way of the Lord. God is the thought "Policeman" who ensures that people's minds see the signals correctly:
Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded. Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up. (Jas 4:7)People's thoughts become confounded: Shall they sin or not; shall they meditate on sinful behaviors or on God, or should people remain in guilt or seek relief? For every good thought there is an evil converse thought. The Spirit is willing to proceed God's Way but the flesh is so weak that the person's own way is the normal.
The thought processes involved in decision-making is wearisome. That's why all life is a tribulation which someday, for some, will end with a crescendo - the Great Tribulation. The "paradox of sin" is double-mindedness as the apostle James was well aware. Psychologists call that "cognitive dissonance" which can make people mentally sick!
So "our way" and "God's Way" are usually in direct opposition. People, as their own masters, seems to themselves better than God as Master. Many try to serve both God and man, but that cannot be done (Mat 6:24). Essentially, serving man (mammon) is serving oneself as people perceive themselves as gods.
People are spiritually sick with conflicting thoughts. God does not want that for his people. Relief comes with serving oneself, and dismissing God with His Laws. That condition is reprobation (Rom 1:28). Those with reprobate minds become single-minded. They tire of struggling with God and submit to themselves. They take the broad way to destruction. On the other hand, those who are dissuaded from that select the narrow Way to prosperity: (Note: prosperity is the reward of Heaven and eternal life.)
Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it, (Mat 7:13-14).Note that there are many thoughts but only two ways. Nobody can go both ways! Oftentimes Christians endeavor to do just that, but sooner of later most of them who try that go their own way. Unknown to them, they are in heavy traffic on the broad way, clashing with God's Way and crashing in their own way. Iniquitous Christians can and do apostatize. If that is not possible, Satan with his demons would go to and fro for nothing! (Job 1:7).
Peoples' thought processes can either endanger or provide safety. Although there are many thoughts, they can be categorized as either safe or unsafe. Those who make a conscious decision to live unsafely are reprobate, or "damned" if you prefer that word. Those who are willing for God to direct their lives are safe. They trust God to get them safely "home." Home is from whence they originally came - the Garden Paradise. From whence their flesh came it shall return (Gen 3:19), and from whence their Spirits came, it is possible to return there.
Note: The writer believes that the rapture will occur at Jerusalem, in the vicinity if the Garden of Gethsemane, where Jesus ascended. The foundation stone is near there, and it is believed that is where mankind was created. Biblically, that makes sense. That is the place of the dust to which dust shall return. It is believed that the abyss to Hell is under the rock and the stairway to Heaven above the rock. Not only may everyone's bodies return to their place of origin but their souls as well for those who are raptured. One Way is caught up with Jesus and the other way is snatched down the abyss to Hell. In he end, everyone will go either Satan's way or God's Way, although all along they thought it was their way!
Thinking our way is according to Satan's rules, or actually chaos. Thinking God's Way is Him guiding submissive peoples' thoughts to, "humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up" (Jas 4:7). God will lift those who submit to His care. To where? Over the chaos onto His Way. God keeps those who serve Him from catastrophe on the highway of life. He delivers those who are willing from temptation (Luke 11:4).
Choose wisely, people! Your way leads to destruction. His Way is safety so that in the end, those who submit their thoutghts and their ways to God, will never perish!
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