We are all looking for “something,” but call it by different names. Wealth, happiness, acceptance, community, health, justice, fairness, virtue, and flourishing, all point toward that “something,” but they are not it. When we spend our lives chasing ideas and temporal things alone, we will each eventually run out of time and be left unsatisfied. When our expectations are not met, we often blame God or our circumstances, but it doesn’t have to be this way. Brother, that “something” we are looking for is meaning and purpose found only in a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, for He is “The Way.” That “something” is a calibrated life based on principles aligned with the laws of nature and nature’s God. We regularly find ourselves individually and collectively out of tune, and that “something” is you and me making day by day and moment by moment choices to either think and act in harmony with God alone or to personally reject Him.
We have chosen, will choose, and are choosing between God and everything else (1 Corinthians 2:14). But when we straddle the fence on acknowledging who God is and what our relationship with Him should be, we will remain ineffective, weak, and confused. A calibrated life starts with believing Jesus Christ was born of a virgin, lived a sinless life, took our place on the cross, was buried, conquered death, and will keep His promise to return for His bride. If we want that “something,” we must not halt between two opinions. The only two options are either calibrating God’s way or choosing the other way littered with counterfeits and broken promises. Have faith and believe.
Almighty God is a good Father and can never occupy second place (1 Kings 18:21). It is not in His nature to pretend to be anything other than eternal, wonderful, matchless, endless, and worthy of all of our adoration and praise. That “something” we long for is the complete abandon and trust of all of ourselves to Jesus and to be Holy Spirit led by way of mystery and reason instead of our natural passions and baser instincts. That “something,” is a God Calibrated Life that reveals His love to the world (John 13:31-35). “Come now and let us reason together saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow, though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool” (Isaiah 1:18).
A God calibrated life through a personal and ongoing relationship with Jesus not only fulfills a heart’s desire like water on a thirsty tongue (Psalm 42:1), a God calibrated life changes everything. We need God. He does not need us. He is self-sustaining (Revelation 1:8). Regardless of how far mankind advances in technology and worldly wisdom, we will never outgrow the need for a relationship with our Maker. Many in this nation have rejected God’s ways, but ask yourself honestly, “Are we becoming better or worse since we have removed God from our private lives, public lives, and institutions?” Marriage between one man and one woman for a lifetime and the nuclear family are good, work is honorable, truth is absolute, there are only two genders, and we are sinful by nature and choice, are just some of the propositions we should once again all hold in common, but it must start with us as individuals. We must believe and commit regardless of what anyone else chooses to do. We must not allow fear or pride to hinder us (Proverbs 29:25).
We must be calibrated first, for after we are fine-tuned, others will use us as models to calibrate to (1 Corinthians 11:1). We need spiritual interventions in our hearts and minds and only God can change us. Only God can calibrate us and help us maximize our usefulness to the Kingdom. We cannot fix ourselves. If we could, there would be no need for a Savior. The calibrated life is a Holy Spirit led life.
What comes next? Be still in the presence of God, fast, pray, study scripture, serve in community, and do all things to the glory of God as the Spirit leads you, but don’t forget to walk in fellowship with your Heavenly Father (1 Corinthians 10:31). A calibrated life is a dedicated life. We are dedicated to God, ourselves, and our fellow man, because love is the glue that binds us and God is love (1 John 4:16). A calibrated life is a disciplined life. Men who are calibrated overcome evil with good, because they trust God enough to expose themselves to both accountability and responsibility to other men and the greater community. Lust and pride submit to the calibrated life for it is instructed to depart by the Spiritual man, and our thoughts are obedient to Christ. A calibrated life is an ordered life. A calibrated life means we say “no” to many good things so we can say “yes” to the best like making our wives and children feel safe, loved, and cared for. A calibrated life means we are on the narrow way, the boundaries are clear, and we find that our relationships are fewer but more authentic and life-giving. A calibrated life means we know what to do and are decisive, because we have game planned and are ready when called upon to protect, provide, and preside. A calibrated life means when we take our last breath on this side of eternity, we will take our first breath on the other side of eternity and hear “’Well done thou good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things; I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord’” (Matthew 25:23).
All Scripture References taken from The Thompson Chain-Reference Study Bible, K.J.V., 1988
— Richard Harwood from The Guild
