A common knowledge truth is that “Any thing that is free is worth what you pay for it.” I can’t even number the times I’ve tried to go the easy way and found that it wasn’t easy at all, often more costly to get far less or nothing I was hoping to get. I’m not alone. Scammers know it is human nature to want something without effort or a bargain that costs little and gains much. They bait their hooks with easy wins, massive increases to finances, instant success in every venue, health fixes and anything else your heart desires without the pressure of working for it. The easy way always costs more and gains less. Scammers bilk the American public of billions every year. We know. We just don’t do.

We even resist being reminded or pushed in the right direction. It is almost like we feel, “Don’t bother me,” when we are in the take-the-easy road mode. One of the issues of faith is that God “bothers” us. He wants to interrupt our bad behaviors and bad attitudes to push us in the right direction toward discipline, responsibility, and accountability. It is embarrassing when I find myself resisting doing the best when I know it is right because I prefer easy, which never is. He has a better plan. My plan is to try to spend more time in agreement with His plan because His outcomes are always better and worth having. His plan is always worth the effort because His grace provides more than we deserve. His hard work is really the “easy” way out.

I had a friend who created cheat sheets for difficult school tests. He could include a chapter or more of science information on a three by five card. He had to use every space on the card, even writing around the edges. He knew the information by the time he figured out how to visually put the information on the card and studied it on the way to school. He never used the cheat sheet on the test because it was his study technique to master the information. He didn’t need to cheat. Others did cheat, got caught, lost their credit and credibility. Those who didn’t get caught were caught short in other ways because they never learned the information and built a habit that would fail them in life.