Wouldn't life be easier if it came with a manual? If we received a document, at birth, that outlines what we're supposed to do, where we're supposed to go and how it's all supposed to happen?
I envision the life manual to include an outline of acceptable behaviors. It would lay out principles of morality and ethics. It would teach you how to treat people; how to discern right from wrong.
The manual would tell you where to go, what to do and how to go about doing it. It would answer your questions and alleviate doubt. It would leave you feeling confident about the promise of your life because it would outline those promises. You would highlight those promises. You'll know you're on the right track, doing the right thing, because the manual would have told you so. It would be filled with page-after-page of examples that you could use to guide you through similar situations in your own life. You would study those examples, story-after-story, to make sure when it happens to you you're prepared.
It wouldn't have any pictures, but the words would illustrate enough for you. The content would be plentiful. It would be a hefty read, but with "Life's Manual" etched into the front hardcover in fancy gold script font, you would want nothing more but to read it all. The content would be written directly to your heart, so that each page would resonate differently at the different phases of your life. This manual would serve as a mirror to your life, and as long as you follow it you'd be guaranteed prosperity. You'd be guaranteed love. You'd be guaranteed peace.
Life wouldn't be easier, but with a manual to guide you through it would be far more bearable. You'd always know there's an end. You'd always know what to do next. You'd always know to trust the process; the instructions; the manual.
What if I told you that you were equipped with a manual? One very similar to the kind explained. One that answers your questions and appeals to your innermost concerns. One that caters directly to you. It doesn't have gold script letter etched into the front, but it is a manual. One that you can follow and refer back to. One with an audio track, of sorts. If I told you that you have a manual for your life, would you use it? Would you whip it open and take notes? Would you highlight the promises and write affirmations in the margin? Would you use it every day to piece together the bits of your life? Would you indulge in its wisdom as wholeheartedly as you proclaim? If your life had a manual would you follow its instructions?
Because girl, you do have a manual. One that guides your life. One that answers all your questions and submits to your concerns. That teaches you about morality and right from wrong. One that tells you what you need to do and how to do it. One that exclaims its promises in big bold decibels. One with a clear path directly to your heart. That manual is God. That book that informs you of ethical and unethical behavior – that provides examples of how you should respond – that serves as a constant reference for God's character and thus, your own – that doesn't have pictures but its words provide all the illustration you need, is the Bible. It's filled with stories and commandments. Prayers of healing, and promises of prosperity. It's filled with explicit instructions and examples of consequences.
And while God's Word—both through relationship and through written book—isn't an explicit manual, and to reduce it to such is a disservice to its true role, it is a guide. The same guide mentioned above. The same one you've been wanting, declaring it'd make your life easier.
The reason you're still looking for a life manual is because you haven't even opened the one you have. Perhaps if you gave it a try, you'd realize the very manual you're longing for, you've had all along.
And don't worry about the cost, Jesus already paid the price.
