If / Then

It was called BASIC. Within BASIC was an elegant tool called the “IF/THEN” statement. It is used in many other programming languages but BASIC was where I discovered it. What if I told you, you can find this programming concept all over the Bible. Probably in every book. Where the concept is probably most heavily used is in Psalms. The chapters are lathered in this binary approach. Of course it is very simple, IF we (or God) do A, THEN B will happen. For example.

Teach me, Lord, to follow your decrees,

Then I will keep them to the end. - Psalm 119:33

Let me understand the teaching of your precepts

then I will meditate on your wonders. Psalm 119:27

So much of how the natural world works also obeys this simple IF-THEN pattern of logic. The syntax / structure is elegant in its form yet powerful in how it works. There are other commands that use the same structure but don’t sound as nice. “If you don’t come home by 10, then you going to sleep outside” . If you have another accident, THEN your premium will double. What is powerful about this is that, the results of the first action does not fall into shades of grey. The result of an action becomes a statement of fact. 

There are times when our doubts, like storm clouds, obscure the radiant promises of God. Our poor choices, born from the frailty of our humanity, chip away at the bedrock of God’s eternal Word. As these choices accumulate, they can erode our faith, watering down the potent power of His promises in our lives. Yet, in the midst of this erosion, we must remember the profound simplicity and unwavering truth of His covenant. When we take God at His Word, trusting in the divine wisdom that surpasses all human understanding, we unlock a realm of possibilities previously hidden from our mortal sight. The key lies in our faith, in our willingness to believe wholeheartedly in His unfailing promises. IF we embrace His Word with unwavering conviction, THEN the veil is lifted, and we glimpse the boundless potential that He has set before us.

Remember, IF you take Him at His Word, THEN you will discover a whole new realm of divine possibilities, a celestial landscape illuminated by the light of His truth, waiting to be revealed to those who dare to believe.

— YorkAli Walters