Focus of Living

I was reading part of a book, where the author was describing a crisis in his life. The crisis put him in a position where he could not -- for a relatively long, but temporary period of time -- pursue life in his accustomed manner. He was forced to look at his fundamental approach to living. He realized that he did have a basic approach, strategy and posture that he engaged in when dealing with the issues of life.

I assume we all do. Some people try to overwhelm life by throwing intense bursts of energy at it. Some people assume it's not what you know, but who you know. So, it's a matter of networking, smooth talking and gaining an audience. Some people assume it's a matter of what you know. Some people work hard to understand what's expected, what the boundaries are, and stay well within what's expected.

What is God fundamental approach to life? It could be argued that it is obedience. After all, he does give commands and if we keep those commands, we are in the center of his will. It could be argued that it is faith. After all, faith does please God. It could be argued that it is love, prayer, worship, evangelism ... or something else.

I remember a time when I considered success in life to mean attaining a certain position in a certain organization. To attain that position, I needed to fulfill a large number of roles in that organization. In each role, I gained added training, experience, and I demonstrated my commitment and loyalty to the organization. Eventually, I would arrive at that position ... and success. (And I never did attain that position.)

Now I doubt success in life can be found in a specific position. I doubt God's basic approach can be defined by any of these words. Maybe we need a new word that is a mash-up of all of these together.