Making Life Work

My sermon this afternoon, I want to gear more directly towards the teens and young adults among us. It's a message that is more for the young people, but the principles I want to talk about apply to all of us, really across the board. When somebody comes into my office and sits down and starts to begin baptism counseling, one of the first places we go into God's scripture is to discuss counting the cost.

Understand the commitment you are making. Understand what it is that you need to evaluate in your life as you proceed in this way. And as part of that discussion is the concept as well of putting God first in your life in all aspects. And the principle is make God the central focus to the plans that you make. Put Him first in your education, first in your career, first in the relationships that you establish and maintain. Put God first in your marriage, with your family, and all that you do.

Put God first. Build the framework of your life central around putting God first, and it will be a blessing to you. Now, putting God first is not just kind of a nice sounding catchphrase, you know, something you throw out there that sounds good, but what does it really mean? You know, it's not conceptual in some way or vague, but putting God first is actual, and it is actionable, and it requires action and effort in our life to do so.

So today, what I'd like to do is kind of just take a little sliver of that pie and discuss one aspect in which we put God first in our lives. And that's living daily according to the guiding principles we find in His Word. Again, one of the ways we put God first in our life is by living daily according to the guiding principles which we find in His Word.

And so I'll throw out the question to the young people here. When you consider the Word of God, what does it mean to you? You know, what does it mean to your daily life? How do you view the Bible? When you go and pull it off the shelf and open it up, what are you looking for in the Scripture? What does God's Word mean to you? You know, I think sometimes we could look at the Bible as simply a book that we use to establish doctrine.

You know, you can turn to the Scripture and say, all right, here's the Sabbath, here are God's holy days, and here are how you keep them. We can look at the Bible and maybe consider it to be a book of do's and don'ts. You know, thou shalt do this, thou shalt not do that. We can look at the Bible and say, well, it's a book of history, people who lived long ago, who died, who were supposed to learn lessons from. And it's a book of prophecy, things that are yet to happen in the future, sometime down in the distance, yet to be fulfilled.

And yet, I think we can limit the Bible in terms of its scope and the impact that it can have on our life. I'm not looking to diminish those concepts in any ways, because those are doctrine in history, and prophecy, and commandments are pivotal to the message. The message of the Bible and the way in which we live our life. But, you know, I don't want us to limit the Bible simply to those things either. Because these are the words of life.

These are the words that we read, we put them into our mind, into our heart, we live them. And they are words of life that make life work today. So as young people, and even the older here among us as well, I want to encourage you to get in the habit of turning to the Scriptures to find the answers to life's questions and circumstances that you're dealing with in your life today. Again, the doctrine, the history, the prophecy, the commandments, all essential to how you live.

But you face circumstances in your life, and as you walk through various stages of your life, those circumstances are going to be different. But I want to encourage you to learn to turn to the Scripture to find the answers that you need for that day and for that moment. The United Church of God has produced a booklet titled, Making Life Work, and I didn't actually have one on my shelf at home, otherwise I could hold it up and do an advertisement like a Beyond Today program.

But I'll just let you remember that booklet, Making Life Work, and I'd encourage the young people, if you don't have your own copy, to order one or to download one onto your device. The introduction to the booklet, Making Life Work, says this. It says, quote, The Bible clearly shows the principles of cause and effect. It shows that our choices and actions, good and bad, produce good and bad results.

It's filled with sound counsel on how to have happy families, marriages, and friendships, how to properly rear children, how to manage family finances and succeed on the job, how to maintain your health, and so much more.

In short, the Bible tells us how to make life work. And I would say, how to make life work today. Because of the principles, because of the instruction that's contained, if we will, in fact, read it, consider it, and implement it. The Bible is filled with so many guiding principles, again, that have a direct impact on our life in the here and now. People in this world around us spend millions of dollars a year on self-help books. They're published over and over and over, self-help in so many different aspects of life. And there are many good principles that you can learn from those books and implement. But I would say probably the greatest, or no, probably, definitely the greatest self-help book, self-help book, ever published is the Word of God. It contains instructions and principles that make life work. The reason I bring it up is that we need to be applying those principles for an abundant life today. Because this Christian life is not all about just sort of hanging on and hunkering down and keeping our head down and waiting for the kingdom of God to come. I mean, yes, we do pray, thy kingdom come. And that's our vision, and that's our focus. But in addition to that, as followers of Jesus Christ, this Christian life is about living life today. It's about living it well and making life work today. It's about living life with proper perspectives, about being fruitful and abundant in this life, guided by the principles that we find in Scripture, and learning the lessons that God would have us learn all along the way. Jesus Christ came to the earth because His Father sent Him. He lived, He died for our sins so that upon repentance and reconciliation with God, we could have eternal life extended to us. But that's not the only reason that He came. Jesus Christ said in John 10, verse 10, that I have come that they may have life and that they may have it more abundantly. And so He came to also help us understand and to set the example of how we can enjoy a fulfilled and productive life right now, as well as in the age to come. Jesus Christ was a person who knew how to make life work. We don't have a whole lot in Scripture about His childhood and His young adult years, but what we do catch glimpses of shows us that He was somebody who understood the value of family. He understood hard work. He understood how to make a living and be productive. And so when Jesus Christ came on the scene in His public ministry, it wasn't like He now had to learn how to make life work. He was already qualified in that way. And He set the example for us to follow. So as young people here preparing for the Kingdom of God, you've been given the opportunity to live an abundant physical and spiritual life today as well. And you have that opportunity because you've been given access and understanding, again, to the greatest self-help book ever written. Your access is to principles that make living a fruitful and abundant life possible.

So again, it's my focus to help direct you to these principles as you walk through life, as you face circumstances. Take a moment, take a breath, and turn to God's Word and see what it says. Notice the value that King David placed on applying God's Word to his life. Let's go to Psalm 19, verse 7. Psalm 19, verse 7. You know, David lived his life with ups and downs, but he always seemed to be able to come back to center. Whenever his faults were called out before him, he acknowledged God and returned. When he made a mistake, oftentimes he made a big mistake, but when he repented, he repented big as well. And he gave the credit to God, but also to the Word, which was his guide. Psalm 19, verse 7. Here David says, The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul. The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple. The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart. The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes, and gives understanding. He says, The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever. The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold. Sweeter also than honey in the honeycomb. And he says, Moreover by them your servant is warned, and in keeping them there is great reward. David said, In knowing and understanding and keeping these words, there's great reward. Brethren, living God's Word has a profound effect on our lives for the good. They point us in the right way to live. They help us to, hopefully, if we're listening, avoid many of the pitfalls and shortcomings that are common to man in this world around us. Notice Psalm 119, continuing with David's thoughts on God's Word. Psalm 119, verse 97.

Psalm 119, verse 97. David said, Oh, how I love your law.

It's my meditation all the day.

You through your commandments make me wiser than my enemies, for they are ever with me. David's saying, These are the words that I focus on, that I think about, the words that direct my steps all throughout the day.

Verse 99, I have more understanding than my teachers, for your testimonies are my meditation.

I understand more than the ancients, because I keep your precepts.

You know, those who should have known more than him because of age, because of time spent on this earth, David says, You know, I know more. I have more understanding than those who are older than me. More understanding than my teachers, because I keep your precepts.

Verse 101, I have restrained my feet from every evil way, that I may keep your word.

I have not departed from your judgments, for you yourself have taught me.

How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth. Through your precepts I get understanding.

Therefore, I hate every false way.

And David says in verse 105, Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.

And so the principles contained in God's word, illuminates the path before us as well.

You know, it's like if you're wandering through the woods on a dark night, and you have a flashlight, and you can illuminate that trail. You can see the obstacles. You can see the pitfalls to avoid. God's word illuminates our path, helps us to avoid tripping and stumbling, and falling into destruction along the way.

So again, young people and the older among us, I want to encourage you to get into the habit, again, of turning to God's word, to find the answer for life's questions, look for the circumstances you are facing today, see what God's word says. Because again, the answers are here.

Now, I want to take the rest of the time that we have today, and actually try to walk through a few practical examples of how we would do this.

And honestly, as young people, what you're going to see that jumps out to you in Scripture, or what is primary to your focus, is going to be, in large part, dependent on your age and what stage of life you're in.

If you're working through college, if you're perhaps working towards marriage, if you're married and you have a family and a child on the way, some of the things that you see in Scripture might jump out more directly to you.

You know, Hans, at the end of his life, focused on God's promises and the resurrection. And that is part of the hope that we all focus on, but for him, it was upfront and direct and personal at that moment.

So whatever you're walking through in life is going to cause you to look at Scripture from your vantage point. And if you're young and you're going to grab life by the horns, because you've got energy and zeal, then you're going to see things like whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might. And those are good things.

Let's just not neglect to take into account the others as well. But again, I want to come back and look at four principles in Scripture that young people will face as they're growing up through life, and just try to give at least a brief example of how you might turn to the Scripture to discover how it can aid you along the way.

So the first principle I want to look at is a principle for establishing right relationships.

The Bible contains principles for establishing right relationships.

You know, who should your friends be? Who should your friends not be? What does the word of God have to say? Let's go to Proverbs, chapter 22, as God's word does have a lot to say about who you keep company with. Proverbs, chapter 22, verse 24. Proverbs is a book of wisdom. I encourage you to read it often. Many of the other books of the Bible do lay out doctrine and commandment and laws, and yet you absorb those and you come to Proverbs now, and it teaches you how to live it. How do you put it into practice? Proverbs, chapter 22, verse 24.

Proverbs, chapter 22, verse 24, says, Make no friendship with an angry man, and with a furious man do not go, lest you learn his ways and set a snare for your soul.

And so there are actually attributes that would disqualify a person from being your friend.

You might say, well, that sounds a little harsh in our tolerant world.

That's what the Scripture says. Make no friendship with an angry man, and with a furious man do not go. You know, if there's a person that's an angry person, if they have a short temper, if they're given the outburst of wrath, if they're lacking self-control in that area, distance yourself.

If it's somebody that you've started walking down the path of friendship with and you discover that this is a real problem, it's a good opportunity, again, to put a little distance there.

The Bible shows us that the kind of company we keep actually affects who and what we become.

You hang with an angry person long enough, you'll become angry yourself.

You hang with a sinner long enough, eventually you'll fall into sin yourself.

1 Corinthians 15, 33 says that evil company corrupts good habits.

So to associate with such a person is only going to bring hardship and trouble and trauma into your life and will be a hindrance to you making your life work as God intended. There's many scriptures that refer to the type of person to avoid. You can study into that on your own. Let's flip it over and ask what kind of person should be your friend. The Bible gives us answers to that as well.

Our friends should be people who have integrity, honesty, people who are forgiving, people who are good listeners, those who are willing to make sacrifices for one another. You know, Jesus Christ said, you know, no greater love has this than that someone would lay down their life for their friend. That's not just, you know, dying at a moment if that would be necessary. That means laying your life down as a living sacrifice for one another, you know, putting someone's interest ahead of your own interest. Those are the kind of people you want as friends.

You want people who are encouragers as well. We're still in Proverbs. Let's go to Proverbs 27, 17.

One verse, familiar passage.

Proverbs 27, 17 says, as iron sharpens iron, so a man sharpens the countenance of his friend.

And so true friends have the ability to improve and to strengthen one another, to lift one another up, encourage one another for good, hold one another to account, you know, and set them straight, when in fact they may be veering off the trail. And the Bible contains many, many examples.

If you want to study into a very good example of, and a positive example of a strong friendship between two individuals, go read the story of the interaction between Jonathan and David.

Two young men who loved each other dearly, and it wasn't an inappropriate relationship.

And, you know, I recall when Jonathan died, and the word came to David, he wept bitterly.

And he said, Jonathan, I've loved you more than the love for women. They were that close.

And their soul was knit to one another. Again, in a right and a proper way, a very close relationship between friends. So if you want to pull principles for a valuable and an intimate friendship, read through the story of Jonathan and David.

Second point I want to look at, and I know I'm talking quickly, this was a sermon down in Lewiston, I'm trying to make it a split. Second principle are principles for employment.

The Bible contains many principles for employment. I'll just touch on a couple of them.

What kind of employee should you be? What kind of employees are bosses looking for?

What does the Bible have to say your responsibility is as an employee, young people, as you enter the workforce? Let's look at Proverbs 12 and verse 24.

Proverbs 12 verse 24. It says, The hand of the diligent will rule, but the lazy man will be put to forced labor. And so the diligent man, the self-motivated man, will actually move into a position where he, or if it's a woman, she, will have a level of authority and responsibility given to them, a level of freedom, because they are diligent.

They are trustworthy. They don't have to have somebody looking over their shoulder at every moment, and they're productive. They know how to get the job done. Those are the ones that become managers and supervisors and CEO of the company. You know, the productive, diligent person knows how to get things done, again, without having someone looking over their shoulder, and they know how to do those things well. Now, the contrast to that is the lazy man, on the other hand, who says, who it says, will be put to forced labor, meaning he will always be under the hand of someone else who drives him in what must be done. You do this. All right, now you come over here, you pick that up, you move it over here, and you do that. Again, that's the lazy man, and you would be hard pressed in that position to move much beyond a minimum wage job. So, again, just in terms of principle, the diligent will succeed far beyond the lazy. Employers want and need diligent people, and they also want people who are willing to go above and beyond the minimum requirement. Let's look at this principle in Luke 17, verse 7. Hear the words of Jesus Christ. Luke 17, 7.

We're talking about going above and beyond. Luke 17, 7, kind of breaking into the context here.

Jesus says, And which of you, having a servant plowing or tending sheep, will say to him, when he has come in from the field, Come at once, sit down, and eat?

But will he rather not say to him, Prepare something for my supper, and gird yourself, and serve me, till I have eaten and drunk, and afterward you will eat and drink? Does he thank that servant, because he did the things that were commanded him? Jesus said, I think not. Verse 10, Likewise, so likewise you, when you have done all these things which are commanded, say, We are unprofitable servants. We have done what was our duty to do. And so Jesus Christ is saying that an unprofitable servant is actually one who does just exactly what he is expected to do. Nothing more than that. Nothing less. Just exactly what he's told to do. He meets the minimum requirement of what's expected, and when it comes to employees, such an individual honestly can be easily replaced. If you're simply going to meet the minimum requirement, you can be easily replaced. A profitable servant is actually one who is profitable. Makes sense? He's profitable for his employer, profitable for his master. He goes above and beyond the basic requirement to fulfill more than what's expected by his master.

To perform above and beyond the expected requirement means you'll make yourself an employee that the boss will value. You become somebody who the employer will be more than willing, hopefully, to bend over backwards for to help when you need help. Like maybe when you need the Sabbath and the Holy Days off. You need to take off a week, 10 days for the feast. You know, you want to be a valuable employee, not someone that the boss says, well, I can find a half a dozen of you within 30 seconds from now. You know, why would I want to accommodate that? But if you're someone the boss values and is profitable to them and go above and beyond for them, they hopefully, in most cases, would be willing to do the same for you.

On a side note to this as well, the Bible has much to say about being self-employed.

And for those of you who are thinking of starting a company or being self-employed, it talks about how you would deal with your customers. How do you treat your employees?

How do you handle building a business on principles of success? I studied into a number of those over the years as I was working my business. Again, the point I'm trying to make today through these points is you're going to be growing up facing situations in life of friendships and education and life. Turn to God's scriptures for the answer to make life work.

Third point comes back to relationships again. The Bible has much to say on principles related to dating, marriage, and family. Dating, marriage, and family. The Bible contains much instruction pertaining to marriage relationship as well as raising the family as well as courtship. And wherever you are along the line, whether you're too young to date or you're just beginning to date or you're in the midst of a marriage with children growing up in the home, the Bible is full of valuable insight and instruction on how we're to conduct ourselves in order to build those relationships in a proper way. If you're at the stage of your life along the way, anywhere in there, I encourage you to turn to the scriptures. You know, the apostle Paul had quite a bit to say about life and marriage in relationships. His instructions were that a believer should seek to be bound to a believer. Now, just of and by itself, that's no guarantee for a successful relationship. And I think, frankly, we'd acknowledge that not every believer should bind themselves to a specific other believer. It has to be the right person. You have to take into account the other principles in scripture as well to make such a relationship work. Seek a multitude of counsel. But the point is, if both are dedicated to keeping God's word and keeping God at the center of their relationship, the marriage will work. And that's a foundational principle that I encourage young people strongly to strive for as they walk through this life. Let's go to Song of Solomon, chapter 2. You don't often go here. Song of Solomon, chapter 2. Because we also need to remember, in all that we do, these things need to be kept in proper order. Song of Solomon, chapter 2, and verse 7.

He says, I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem, by the gazelles, or by the doze of the field. Do not stir up or awaken love until it pleases. The Living Bible says, do not awaken love until the time is right. And so what it's saying is, there is a time and a season to awaken love, and a time to restrain, and there is a time, obviously, to awaken sexual love and as reserved for marriage. In our society today, in the world we live in, it promotes awakening of sexual relations outside of the season. And in fact, sexual relations have become so common in our society today that you have what are called friends with benefits. A term that's become more common in the last few years, friends with benefits. Friends with benefits are essentially friends, they're just friends. They come together for sex in a way that's supposed to avoid all the complications, all the entanglements of a romantic relationship or a commitment in that way. They're friends with benefits. I think, brethren, you and I know that it's not a way to make life work.

Love in terms of a relationship moving towards marriage needs to be carefully handled, and it needs to be carried out in its right and proper timing and order. And God's Word gives us thorough instructions on the matter. Just a couple of scriptures, Proverbs 24 and verse 27.

Actually, we won't turn there. Proverbs 24, 27 says, prepare your outside work. Make it fit for yourself in the field, and afterwards build your house.

In other words, don't establish something that you're not able to support before you've laid the foundation in the other aspects of your life to support that. Someone who builds a house without a crop growing up in the field in order then to be able to support that house, they're developing problems for themselves. I think we understand the agricultural relationship here. Again, though, prepare the field. Be productive, abundant, able to produce, and then build your house. As best as you're able, young people, lay the foundation of your life first, both in finances and maturity, physically and spiritually, develop that relationship with God, and then proceed to build that friendship into something more, all while keeping God and His Word and these principles central to your focus.

The Bible also provides husband and wives critical principles for growing their relationship as well, for maintaining it, for reviving it if it's fallen into disrepair. One chapter on that, or one scripture, 1 Corinthians 13. Again, we're just barely scratching the surface, but you see how this process works. 1 Corinthians 13 is what we call the love chapter.

It expresses the type of love we can have towards God and our fellow man, and certainly our spouse, as well. 1 Corinthians 13, beginning in verse 4, says, Love suffers long and is kind.

It does not envy. Love does not parade itself. It's not puffed up. You know, it's not proud. It's not all about self. Verse 5, It does not behave rudely. It does not seek its own. It's not provoked.

It thinks no evil. Love does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails. So a loving relationship that is built on these principles, keeping God in the center, you know, husband, if God is first in your life, wife, if God is first in your life, he will be first in your marriage, and it will succeed. And finally, parents with children are instructed to bring them up in the training and the admonition of the Lord. So again, the point I'm making is we all need to remember the importance of turning to the scriptures to find the answers of how to make life work, how to handle the situations, and to have guidance on the things that we're facing simply in our day-to-day life. Look to God's Word for understanding about how to make life work today, no matter what stage you're in, and it will make life work for the better. I encourage you young people, learn to recognize the scripture. Not advice in the world, not advice off the television, not advice necessarily off the internet, but look to the scripture for understanding and consider it to be understanding that you can't afford to live without. The fourth point and final is financial wisdom.

Scripture contains many principles related to financial wisdom. Some say that money makes the world go round, and we spend so much of our life's focus in pursuit of financial gain, and frankly, that's not wrong in the right parameters. If that comes before God, if you're chasing to be rich and there's never enough and it comes before God, there's a problem. But you know what? God expects us to be abundant and productive and provide and be secure, and He blesses us in that, but there's principles to that as well. You know, we all need money to buy a car, buy a house, put food on the table, put clothes on our back, and you know it's good to have a little fun every now and then as well. But in order to do that, we acquire or we spend most of our life in order to acquire that money. We spend much of our life's time and effort in pursuit of that. We go to school for many years, we get an education, we go on to higher education, and we get a job, and we're up early, or we're out late, and we're devoting the, you know, the greatest, most productive part of our day to working that job, and again, it's to make financial ends meet. So in light of such an investment on our part, shouldn't we be concerned about how we handle the money that we do make? You know, I sometimes maybe go a little overboard in my head, but if I'm out shopping and I see something that I want, I calculate how many hours of my life I'm trading for that. For me, it's not like, oh, do I want this thing? Sure, I want it, but, you know, do I want it for 10 hours of my life I just gave to earn that money? You know, you do the division in your head. Wow, that's a lot of effort. They'll really want it that badly. Sometimes I buy it, sometimes I just walk away. But again, how we handle that investment should be important to us, because it is our life that we are investing. God is concerned because God owns everything, and we're simply stewards of just a small portion of what it is that God's allowed us to manage in our life today. One way that God evaluates us to see, in fact, if we will be able to handle eternal life and what it is he has for us in the future is can we be entrusted with what he's given to us to have stewardship of today. Notice Luke 16 and verse 10. Luke chapter 16 verse 10, again, breaking into the middle of this context here, the words of Jesus Christ. Luke 16 10, Jesus said, he who is faithful in what is least is faithful also in much, and he who is unjust in what is least is unjust also in much. So if you're not faithful with even the little thing, how can you be trusted with some great responsibility? And he says, going on here in verse 12, and if you have not been faithful in what is another man's, who will give you what is your own? But they jump up past verse 11, which is the main focus here, which is, therefore, if you have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon and money, who will commit to your trust the true riches? And so the Bible contains so many instructions regarding to pursuit and management of money. You know, do you want to be in a secure financial situation? Do you want to be stable as you go through your life in that way? A huge portion of whether that will be a reality or not depends on following the financial principles laid out in the Scripture. And they are there. The Bible contains instructions for budgeting your resources.

You're not spending more than you make for laying up for a rainy day. There are stories and principles along that line. Go back and look at Joseph in Egypt when he instructed the pharaoh then to lay up in the seven good years for the seven years of famine yet to come. Consider the Proverbs. Go to the Ants. Consider its ways. Again, there's so many principles in Scripture related to financial standing. The Bible contains instructions on making wise investments, assisting the poor and the needy. If God's blessed you with funds, use it in a way to assist the less fortunate as well. I was actually looking at this specifically yesterday, and the phone rang it with the disabled veterans and looking for a donation. So I said, you're on. But as God's blessed you, use that as a blessing for others as well. The Bible as well talks about laying up an inheritance for future generations, avoiding the pitfalls of large levels of debt. Proverbs 22, verse 7 says, the borrower is servant to the lender. And so when somebody is holding a large portion of debt over your head, they own your life. It's a very large degree.

You know, I acknowledge you need a mortgage to buy a house, okay? In many cases, in probably most cases, you need a loan to buy a car. But outside of those things, be very careful. Credit card debt can run away with your life. If you don't need it, don't buy it at that time if you cannot afford it. If it's not a necessity, again, if you have the money, that's a good thing. Buy what you please.

But keep the standard according to what God has laid out in Scripture. And remember, the borrower is servant to the lender. 1 Corinthians 7, 23 says, you were bought at a price, do not become slaves of men. And so the blood of Jesus Christ bought you out of slavery. Don't submit yourself right back into that again through debt. Because remember, you're selling a portion, in a large portion of your life, in order to service that financial obligation. Romans 13, 8 says, oh, no one anything. Oh, no one anything except to love one another. That's good advice.

Sound principles to base your life on. So, brethren, these are scriptures that are important for all of us to explore, all of us to consider on a regular basis. It's just the tip of the iceberg. There's so many directions that we could go into Scripture, so many scriptures that we could pull out on each and every topic. Are you interested in learning life lessons about time management, leadership, physical and spiritual health, diet and exercise, stress relief? It's all here.

You're interested in knowing a little more about government and politics, military war and service. How about immigration and border control? It's here.

It's all contained within the pages of God's Word, and so much more.

Coming back full circle, then, brethren, to where we started the message today.

One of the ways we put God first is living daily according to the principles contained in His Word. The wisdom and instruction in the Bible has stood the test of time.

It's just as relevant today as it was in the day that it was given and written.

God's Word is living, and it should be living in our life today as well.

And so, young people, I encourage you to consult God's Word regularly. Make it a daily part of your habit to seek out answers that will make life work.

Put them into practice in your life consistently and constantly and all throughout your days.

Recognize that it does take work to implement these principles, okay?

If it was easy, everybody would be doing it, but everybody's not doing it.

We should be doing it. It takes work to implement. It also takes God's blessing to succeed along the way.

But, and remember, in doing so, as King David so eloquently said, he said, in doing so, there's great reward.