Contracts with God ~ IF THEN Part 1

Greetings Dear Reader,

When I first learned to program in BASIC back when I used to do so on my TRS80, I was overly fond of the IF THEN statement.  The TRS80 was my first computer.  It had, read this carefully, 16K of RAM and two floppy drives.  It even came with a cassette player so that I could load programs that would not fit on a floppy disk.

A friend and I decided that we wanted to improve a game we both enjoyed.  We discovered that modifying some of the IF THEN statements and enhancing the contained values made the game more challenging.  We also could nest the statements to create multiple outcomes.

For those who do not understand this it is simple.  The statement is a logical contract.  It says IF condition A is true THEN do B.  It can also have a default outcome.  This is IF condition A is true THEN B, ELSE C.  If player has the GOLDEN KEY, open the SECRET DOOR, else RELEASE the fire trap.  

So many linear games depend on this to move the player through the game.  We also apply this logic to much of our lives.  We enter many conditional social contracts where we agree to do something if someone else does as well.  In crisis we create IF THEN contracts with God.

It usually goes like this: “God IF you do A then I will do B”.  My friend Tony once told me that he had been telling God that if he got a date with a certain girl that he would never speed again.  He got the date and a speeding ticket whilst on the date. 

The problem is that IF went enter into a contract with God he THEN expects us to live up to it.  He requires us to pay what we promised.  Solomon clearly points out, “When you make a promise to God, don't be slow to keep it because God doesn't like fools. Keep your promise.”

We may forget the IF THEN Promise as soon as we are out of the crisis.  The problem is that God does not.  I do not want to be in that position.  I must honor my contracts with God.

Wishing you joy in the journey,

Aramis Thorn

Mat 13:52 So Jesus said to them, "That is why every writer who has become a disciple of Christ’s rule of the universe is like a home owner. He liberally hands out new and old things from his great treasure store.”

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