Three Rules For Life: T.S.L.

In a Land of No Rules

Three Rules For Life

Trust the Lord (Proverbs 3:5-6)

Proverbs 3:5–6 ESV

5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. 6 In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.

Ethan, the first rule of life is to trust the Lord with all of your heart. But what does it mean to trust? It means to lean on him with all your heart, mind, and strength, and not on your own wisdom, your own understanding.

Proverbs 3:7 ESV

7 Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord, and turn away from evil.

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom (Proverbs 1:7). Wisdom says that man’s understanding of the world he lives and the way he should live is deficient, and cannot be trusted. The Puritan Thomas Brooks wisely instructs you, Ethan,

300 Quotations for Preachers from the Puritans Leaning on Christ Alone

Everything that a man leans upon but God will be a dart that will certainly pierce his heart through and through.… He that leans only upon the bosom of Christ lives the highest, choicest, safest, and sweetest life.

THOMAS BROOKS

To lean upon the bosom of Christ is to build your house upon his rock, the truth of his work. The Word of God overrides your feeble reasoning and understanding. The Word of God must be your final and absolute authority in everything that captures your heart.

To lean upon the Lord is to acknowledge His presence and authority in every aspect of your life: your thoughts, your feelings, your ambitions, your relationships with your family, your wife, your children, and your neighbors. Everything that defines and influences Ethan finds its origins in Christ first and foremost.

To lean on the Lord is to know with out a doubt that he is always working for your good, even when wave after wave threatens to destory the house you are building on His rock. God will make straight your path.

I read a story of a man who found himself crossing the Susquehanna River, in the east between Maryland and New York, one winter’s day. His dad did not know how thick the ice was. So he was crawling along on all fours, gingerly feeling his way forward, when he heard some racket and clatter coming up behind him. He looked back, and here came a wagon pulled by four horses, and the driver was whipping them along at a pretty good clip right across the frozen river. The guy was a local. He knew how thick the ice was. A foot of ice is as strong as a foot sediment. You can drive your truck with an ice shanty on 12 inches of ice.

Ethan, half-hearted trust in the Lord creeps along the 12 inch ice as if it could not hold you.

Trust in the Lord, Son. Stand up on your feet, build your house, your family, your career, your calling, build everything that defines you on the ice. You can trust the Lord with everything.

Seek the Kingdom (Matthew 6:33-34)

Jesus knows that aside from love, fear is the next strongest emotion you feel. In a broken world it is easy to let fear overcome. What is there to fear in this world? Well, your security for starters. You can spend your life building your health, your wealth, your happiness, and in one moment it can all be taken away from you, even with great injustice. The wicked come to kill and destroy. What are you to the wicked? The forces of nature have no mercy. What does your house, your belongings, even your loved ones mean to a tornado, a flood, or a hurricane? Nothing.

And then the there is the work of satisfaction. What if, Ethan, you can the entire world, the pride of life and the lust of the eyes, and your heart is empty. What then, Son? Jesus says to you,

Matthew 6:33–34 ESV

33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. 34 “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

Jesus is telling you the wise way to secure your life and your hearts satisfaction is to seek first his kingdom and his righteousness. The idea of seeking is ongoing. Its habitual. Its not a one and one seeking, but an “I need the every hour” kind of seeking.

To seek God’s kingdom is to submit to God’s rule and obey him, constantly seeking to do the things that God wills. To seek the Lord, Ethan, is to seek to fully experience God’s rule in your heart and make his kingdom the center of your existence. The kingdom of God is the primary focus in your three spheres of life: the church, community, and home.

Furthermore, to seek his righteousness is to seek the righteousness that God requires of you; a righteousness you do not have on your own, but must possess from His Son, Jesus. Remember, son,

2 Corinthians 5:21 (ESV)

21 For your sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him you might become the righteousness of God.

To seek the Kingdom and its righteousness is to seek the Lord Jesus Christ who is your righteousness.

I think Mary E. Byrne, the sister who translated the Hymn “Be Thou My Vision,” captures the essence of Matthew 6:33-34, the lyric sings,

Riches I heed not, nor man’s empty praise,

Thou mine Inheritance, now and always:

Thou and Thou only, first in my heart,

High King of Heaven, my Treasure Thou art.

Ethan, trust the Lord with all of your heart and spend your life seeking His kingdom.

Love your neighbor (Matthew 22:37-39)

One final rule to help you live a good life. Jesus sums up the entirety of the Law, and the purpose of life in

Matthew 22:37–39 ESV

37 And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.

Jesus commands you, Ethan, to love your neighbor. You are not to love your neighbor with discrimination, but you are to love your neighbor as yourself. That means you will love people who are both lovable and unloveable. Jesus even says your neighbor might be your enemy, and you still must love them.

Our culture is very confused on love. The best they can tell you is “love is love.” That is vague, arbitrary and unhelpful. The Bible says that God is love. The bible says,

1 John 4:8 ESV

8 Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.

God’s love is patient, His love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails” (1 Corinthians 13:4-8a).

Just as God is love and demonstrates that love for you, He expects you to love others in the same way. Sometimes you will have to love someone who requires a great deal of patience. Other times you will be called upon to love someone who desperately needs to know the truth you rejoice.

By now, you have lived enough life to know that loving people is hard work, and often times you feel the weight of your inadequacy. The problem, Ethan, your sinful heart cannot love anyone like you love yourself because your sinful heart is too deeply in love with yourself. That is why you must get the order right.

Love the Lord your God with all of your mind, heart, and strength. Treasure the Lord as your greatest treasure. Love Him as your supreme love. Only then are you capable of loving your neighbor as yourself.

Maybe you ask, “How does making God my supreme love help enable me to love others? Because, Son, the love of God is the only force that is able to crucify your flesh while at the same time give you abundant life. When Jesus commands you to take up your cross and follow him, he invites you to die to yourself in live in the very life he offers, the abundant life that is capable of giving life, and love to others.