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Friends United Meeting |
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July/August 2001
Valiant for Truth
Shortcuts
By Trish Edwards-Konic
Shortcuts. I'm always looking for shortcuts. If I'm going from one place to another, I try out several ways until I find "my" shortcut. Shortcuts are ways to do something easier, without being burdensome or perplexing.
But Jesus said, "There are no shortcuts to God." (Matthew 7:13, The Message) That stops me short. I often look for the easy way out, the way to do something without as much effort. How about you?
And have you ever noticed how finding a shortcut often leads to "the scenic route," meandering here and there, taking more time than the known route? The shortcut really is no shortcut at all.
The passage continues, "The market is flooded with surefire, easygoing formulas for a successful life that can be practiced in your spare time. Don't fall for that stuff, even though crowds of people do."
Even in our spiritual life, those ways we think might be shortcuts to God, turn out, in the long run, to be sidetracks. They derail us from the shortest route to a full life in God, and because of our decisions, we find ourselves in difficulties of our own making.
Matthew reminds us that "the way to life--to God!--is vigorous and requires total attention." We can't be darting off here and there, being sidetracked by the scenic routes of life. To find life is to find God; to live life in its fullest is to seek and discover God.
To choose life requires our total attention so we don't become distracted or deceived. Just as a runner must train vigorously and a musician must practice, practice, practice, so too the spiritual life requires vigorous training and practice. Our attention must be on God, the true source of all life.
There are no shortcuts to God. "The world and its desires pass away, but the person who does the will of God lives forever." (1 John 2:17) Choose God and give Him your full attention!
Copyright (c) 2001 Friends United Meeting
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