After the last two days of lying on the couch and requiring a nap approximately every two hours, I've been thinking about all the things in life that I could do without, sickness being one of them. Excessive drama, another. (Of course I like some drama; it keeps things interesting.) I could also do without name-calling, people rolling through neighborhood stop signs (don't even get me started on that one!), and pornography. If those things just didn't exist, oh, life would be so much happier. For me, at least.
I also thought for a while, over the past several years, that I could do life better without God. Not without believing, but without caring much, and letting go of certain principles. Turns out that is a horrible way to live. I cannot express the feelings of guilt that would tag along with me wherever I went. My psyche was fragile at best, living a life that I disagreed with in principle. I started to wonder how I could actually still call myself a believer. And those old verses in Revelation haunted me. Literally.
"I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm--neither hot nor cold--I am about to spit you out of my mouth. You say, 'I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.' But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked." Revelation 3:15-17
Looking again at these verses, I see there was more to it than fear or guilt. There may be bad things in life that I could do without, but clearly, by my past experiences and by these verses, I cannot do without God. Without Him, I have no clothes, no sight, no wealth (literal or figurative). I have no hope. And speaking of things I cannot do without: without hope, we are all dead.
I can't believe and not act the way I'm supposed to. I can't cling to hope if the One who gives that hope is unimportant to me. I cannot have anything without God. In fact, I do not want anything without God. It's just not worth it.
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