Living life on the edge

Bailout. Every time I watch the news and hear of yet another request for bailout, the hair on the back of my neck bristles. Since when has it been an American trait to depend on the government so heavily? What happened to that pioneer spirit?

While I do not equate being an American with being a Christian, that attitude of entitlement could seep into the church if we are not careful. And wouldn't that be the ultimate slap in the face to the God who "owns the cattle on a thousand hills"? (See Psalm 50)

I remember the title of a book that Dr. James Dobson wrote long, long ago when I worked at Focus on the Family, "Life on the Edge." Do you remember it? It was a book for college-aged students that encouraged them to trust God. Since I have a pretty morbid sense of humor, I applied that title to everything that made me uncomfortable and, ironically, at that time much of my discomfort was derived from finances. "Where's the fun in life if you can't live it on the edge?" I would ask after trying to balance a checkbook that often came up short (my husband was in Bible College at that time.).

So I ask the same thing today. "Where's the fun in life if you can't live it on the edge?" Living life on the edge gives God time to act. This doesn't mean that we can spend our money foolishly and wait for God to bail us out. It means that we trust Him while using our resources wisely and wait for him to act when there are holes, or when there are no resources.

"Call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will honor me," God says in Psalm 50: 15. That is how we're supposed to live. On the edge. It's part of that abundant life that Jesus talked about in John 10: 10. Read it. Think on it. Live it.