Efficient

Efficient.

I like this word; better yet, I like for things to work in this manner. Here's what it means:

"performing or functioning in the best possible manner with the least waste of time and effort; having and using requisite knowledge, skill, and industry; competent; capable"

There is no sense, in my mind, in doing something inefficiently. Why waste time doing something another way? When there is a prescribed way to do something, there's often a very good reason as to why, and to act outside the bounds of that way is illogical.

While this word, efficient, is one you'll be hard-pressed to find in scripture, the concept is all throughout God's word. The best way to be efficient is to obey God. To act outside the bounds of God's word is inefficient. That's it.

So much, in my mind, is black and white; it either is or it is not; it either is "yes" or it is "no" and I don't believe much else in life is an exception to that rule...if there is an exception, then it'll usually take some convincing and sound reasoning to show me how it is so. Point out how it can be different, show me proof, reason with me, and I'll accept it. I don't often (anymore) simply believe what someone says without proper evidence, I think it's foolish to do so. However, that's not to say I haven't been foolish in the past and not abided by what I just said, and at times I still foolishly slip in this area. I've accepted some things I have been told without proof, without good reason to trust the source and the information, I have been deceived many times before. However, God has granted me the time and good sense to reason out, from His word, why I should now demand evidence and not waste time believing lies. My days, like yours, are filled with opportunities to believe lies (easy to do) or seek truth (requires effort). Yet, whatever effort is required to find out the answer (prove from God's word), is worth the time and energy spent so that I can believe and obey the truth on any matter. That is efficient. That is the wisdom God desires us to have and use. To spend our limited time and resources in believing something false is inefficient, wasteful, foolish; for our life is but a vapor (consider Jms.4:13-17). Sometimes it takes some doing for us to realize this fact; and I thank God He granted me the time to recognize this.

There is one area of life where we can believe exactly what we're told; an area where believing without question is considered wise; where we can have the utmost confidence in our source; and that is when we open God's word. This is the source of all truth, for all time. In God's word is absolute truth. There is no variance in what God says. He said exactly what He meant to say, so unlike mankind, and He can be believed without question; not only CAN everything He said be believed, it MUST be.

Any time spent entertaining the thought of sin, or engaging in it, is time wasted and inefficiency at its worst; this inefficient usage of time and life leads to eternal death (no one I know would argue that eternal death is "efficient"), so what sense does it make to do anything which results in this end? Now, by comparison, doing what is right and following the Lord's ways may take more time for us to do, but every moment spent seeking and doing the Lord's will is efficiency at its best, for this leads to eternal life.

It is so exhausting to hear man try to "disprove" God. It wears me out to listen to mankind's "reasoning" about things, hearing them bloviate about their supposed intelligence - which is really ignorance - and show how much more advanced they think themselves to be in comparison to the rest of us moronic peasants. Man has devised many ways to be a fool, and it is manifested daily by how he chooses to disobey God.

I gather much of this way of thinking [something either is or isn't, yes or no, etc], and why it makes so much sense to me, stems from my background in the profession of IT (computers) for so long and being geared to think in this way. Computers do what they're programmed to do, they don't go outside the bounds of their programming unless you, or someone else, has done something to manipulate (whether unintentionally or maliciously) its logic. Things are either a 1 or 0, only changing the variables or parameters will cause that answer to change. Here's a math example to what I mean:

whole number one + whole number one = whole number two. Always. [I say "whole number" because you can discuss other ways to arrive at a different outcome if you're not specifically using whole numbers] In order to arrive at any other answer you'd have to change the parameters and/or variables to the equation.

This is one reason, among many, that I take such comfort in God's word. It's sound reasoning, it's perfect logic. When you keep things in their proper order, follow the specified action/command, operate within the parameters that have been established and clearly outlined for us; it's just so, logical, wise, efficient.

So much disorder exists in life, so many things don't make sense, so many things are frustratingly ignorant when, and because, man inserts himself in place of God. Man has made a mess of things, but God always gives order to the disorder. Introduce God to any problem and you've instantly replaced foolishness with Divine Wisdom; you've replaced chaos with order; you've replaced hatred with love; you've replaced ignorance with reason; you've replaced depravity with purity; you've taken the dirty, the despicable, the ugliness, the rancid refuse that is sin and a wasted life and changed it into something useful, pure, useful, renewed, fresh, and beautiful; you've changed the useless and the wastefulness of a life lived in sin to usefulness and a highly blessed life lived in righteousness.

A life without God is wasted. A life without God does not compute, it is illogical, it is wholly inefficient.

Can we be useful? No doubt!
Can we be saved? Absolutely!
Can we live pure lives and be freed from the prison that is sin? Yes!

Wasted words, wasted time, wasted opportunities, wasted emotions, wasted thoughts; all this equates to wasteful living. Every one of these, incredibly inefficient because they all lead to death. When we act outside the bounds of God's word, His order of things, outside His boundaries...well, then we're being wasteful (inefficient).

When we speak of living an efficient life, what is meant is abiding by the word of God. In this, living according to the word, there are no wasted actions, no wasted time, no wasted life; no time lost to evil, senseless, and deadly sinful living.

From the moment we are born, the clock starts on when we will die. Our earthly body is made to wear out, wear down, decay, and cease living at some point. However, our spiritual body grows, or at least should, as we grow and mature in this body. Our spirit moves on toward living eternally while our physical body progresses toward expiration. What a beautiful thought. This is efficiency at its best. We make use of limited time here in order to live eternally. We put forth maximum effort to live righteously so we may live in eternal bliss with our Lord forever when we're done here. This is black or white; yes or no; right or wrong! This is what God's holy word speaks so much about, and what man spends so much time trying to ignore! We either live godly lives or we die eternally. That's it. That simple. Here's something else...it's completely our choice! How's that for efficient?! We control our actions here, thereby deciding where we will spend eternity. Do we take life as seriously as we ought? Do we treat our days with this reality in mind? Some more thought-provoking questions:

Are you and I thinking eternally?
Do our actions and our desire match what God has laid out in His word for us?
Are we living, truly, or are we slowly (or rapidly) dying?
Do our lives follow the path of Christ, journeying on toward heaven; or are we choosing to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season, thereby guaranteeing eternal death?
Are we seeking God's will, studying His word daily to see what we must do, and loving Him with our all?
It all comes down to what we're doing.

Are you efficient or wasteful?
You choose.
Eternity lies just ahead of us all, live this life efficiently by abiding in God's word; there is truly no other way that makes any sense. This is life or death. May we all choose wisely.