IF...THEN

A long time ago, back when microcomputers were the size of a typewriter (if you don’t know what a typewriter is, Google it), I learned a programming language called BASICA. It ran on any computer which wasn’t made by Apple. One of the series of commands was IF…THEN. What that did was look at one set of conditions and if it was true, then the computer did some other action or computation. For example, let’s say you wanted the computer to count all of the numbers in a list that were less than 5. You set up a series of commands that would have the computer scan the entire list, top to bottom, looking for those numbers. The command line that actually tested the number would look something like this:

IF NUMBER<5 THEN COUNT=COUNT+1 (translation: If the number is less than 5, increase the count by one)

When the computer reached the end of the list, it would print out the answer like this:

PRINT COUNT

I had a friend once who said that all of life is an IF…THEN relationship. For instance, IF you went to school and studied, THEN you would pass; IF you had all of the right experience and training, THEN you would get a good job; IF you didn’t perform as expected, THEN you got fired! I am sure you can take it from there and see what my friend meant. Be careful, though, because it can become a game, a very addictive game, and drive you nuts.

Our relationship with God is the prime IF…THEN example of how life is supposed to be. It is really quite simple. All we have to do is follow God’s computer program:

IF we follow God’s rules and laws THEN we get to spend eternity with Him in Heaven OR IF we choose to break the rules THEN we have to ask for His forgiveness and He will have already done so OR IF we choose to reject God and His love and mercy THEN we get to spend eternity with Satan.

While I realize this is very simplified and we seem to have a love for complexity and making life harder than it needs to be, God and life are, in fact, quite simple. God loves us and wants us to be with Him forever. He made it a list of simple choices, just 10 altogether. He named them Commandments. Just remember this simple program:

IF you follow His Commandments THEN He will welcome you home when your time has come.  So, load the program into your internal computer and click RUN PROGRAM.