The Amoebic Lifestyle

Have you ever encountered people who live I have come to call an amoebic lifestyle? You know amoeba, those tiny shape-shifting single-celled creatures that spend their lives just oozing around the bottom of ponds. Their lives consist of mere reactions to their circumstances and surroundings. People who live amoebic lives make only the necessary momentary adjustments to avoid pain and suffering; choices made on-the-fly, so to speak. They  don't seem to consider the future at all. Living in the moment, some might call it. But living in the moment has it's consequences. This lifestyle will eventually reveal they are living in crisis mode on an ongoing basis.

I have another blog called Life Without Chocolate; the name being a metaphor for choosing to live without certain things in my life that aren't beneficial to me or my health. These "things" that are needful to be chosen certainly range deeper than just the physical. Just because I can doesn't mean I should covers so much more than making choices about my physical being or merely reacting to circumstances. It extends to the mental and spiritual as well.

I seem to have the need to test the waters on a regular basis even knowing the outcome! I know that if I eat chocolate I will suffer greatly as a result - a given. And this is only one example. Why do I do that? I actually know but I will spare you the sermon. It's the human curse/blessing to be sure - free will. Free will gets us into trouble all the time!

I could choose to live in the moment daily, eat what I want or do what I want, and deal with the consequences as they arise living the amoebic lifestyle but I've found life flows more smoothly if I actually think ahead. I'm just starting to get the big picture in a clearly much larger scope after being diagnosed with food allergies 16 months ago. Kind of the HD/3D version of life. In those 16 months there have been many bad choices, oversights and Oh, duh! moments.

This new revelation has given understanding which has overflowed into my spiritual life as well. As a child of God I can certainly make choices in this life that are fun and interesting - for the moment - however they may have lasting negative consequences far beyond what I might realize. Cursed FREE WILL!

The Bible encourages us to live not just for the moment but for eternity; to set our minds on the things that will affect the eternal outcome of our lives and not the things just pertaining to our earthly lives. In other words, we are not to live as amoebas just bumping around life reacting, but actually planning ahead for what's to come.

And what is to come you might ask? Good question. If you were to die today what would happen to you? I believe there is God given life after death - either in heaven, through Jesus, or hell, through rejecting Him. You may believe there is nothing after death where everything just ends. That's your prerogative. But what if I'm right and you are wrong? Then I will have lost nothing and you will have lost everything! If we've chosen to live the amoebic lifestyle it is too late to make any other choice once we've died.

For me it's like choosing to live without chocolate. It's a much healthier life I live without it - in the moment and in the future. I have also chosen to live through Jesus - now and forever - making those decisions in life that are not just an amoebic response to my circumstances. 

How about you?

Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth.

Colossians 3:2