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Walking in
God's Ways
The
divine way to actualize man's purpose
No quotation makes a better, or more dramatic, presentation of the
quality of activities man must perform in striding to actualize his
purpose, than "walking in God's ways".
We all surely agree that no activity in the universe is more
exalted and positive than that which God performs. It is therefore
logical to determine that this activity would be man's most exalted
and positive as well. If, through this activity, we actualize our
purpose, and it appears that it is indeed so, then evidently it
could guide us to the way and the means of carrying it out.
It is discernible that this divine demand also encourages and
creates a desire to perform this activity.
Should man walk in God's ways
Philosophically, it could be claimed that God would not have asked
and encouraged us to do so, when there are not weighty causes behind
it. The exhortation to walk in God's ways, not only brings us to
perform the correct activity and awakens within us not only the
means to do so, but also brings us to consciously perform the true
Good and thus to cease the doing of evil. Since we, as an imperfect
creation, perform, by our very nature, both Good and evil, we
require guidance and encouragement for the doing of Good. Walking in
God's ways is the best way of doing so.
Are we capable of walking in God's ways
If we take into account the fact that this activity was proposed by
our Creator, who knows our capabilities better than any other one in
the universe, it is extremely plausible to suppose that we are,
indeed, capable of following God's ways. Also, in terms of our
similarity to God, according to his statement that we were created
in His image, it can be concluded that we are capable of doing so.
In order to essentially examine our ability to do so, we must first
know His ways.
What do God's ways include
As we observe and sense, God's ways include the creation of this
infinite universe and its ceaseless development, and also his love
for this creation. What drove God to create this infinite universe?
After all, had He wished, he could have not done so; if He created
it anyway, it can be said He had and has an urge to create.
If we believe this creation expresses absolute Good, it can be
concluded that this drive for Creation was the urge to do Good. In
order to express this Good, an 'address' is required. The creation
of the universe and its infinite development supply an ever-present
address for expressing this immense and wonderful urge.
The force that encourages this wonderful expression is His infinite
power of love. According to the ancient world's philosopher's words
too, God's infinite powers of love are the means by which He creates
and develops the universe. The philosophers expressed themselves
marvelously regarding love, saying that love is the reason for the
universe's existence; without love, nothing could exist. This is the
force that unites the entire universe with its source, the Creator.
His love is multi-faceted: One face is the energy, which
creates and develops the universe – we
shall refer to it as "cosmic love". Another face is human love of
the most exalted purity, multiplied a thousand fold, seeking
expression.
In order to do it, God created creatures in the universe, who
resemble Him; to bestow them with this love, in the hope that they
will accept it and make adequate use of it.
Man's ability to walk in God's ways
In the previous pages, our philosophical conclusion was that man
has, in principle, the ability to walk in God's ways. At this stage
we are familiar with his essential capability, which is: Man too
has an urge to express Good, and he too possesses powers of creation
and love, which bring this Good into expression, and also, he too
has the ability of expressing these forces, most of the time.
Despite man's ability being immeasurably smaller and more primitive
than that of the divine, thanks to the fact that it fits man's
degree of spiritual development, he can efficiently express it
throughout his entire walk towards infinite progress. Hence,
essentially, man can walk in God's ways throughout his progress.
How should we interpret the concept of man's walking in God's ways
Given that man holds the role of deputy creator, and since he cannot
currently create as God does, this term should be seen as a
guidance; an exhortation; an instruction and even as a divine decree
to perform his activities as deputy creator in the ways of love and
creation, to benefit living beings generally and mankind in
particular. We shall therefore term this walking in His ways as:
Walking in the pattern of God's ways
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Those
who bring sunshine into the lives of others, cannot keep it from
themselves.
James M. Barrie:
The high destiny of the individual is to
serve
Albert Einstein
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