JOB 34:33 Should God then reward you on your terms, when you refuse to repent? You must decide, not I; so tell me what you know.

DT 29:9 Carefully follow the terms of this covenant, so that you may prosper in everything you do.

We have all heard the phrase "Learning to live life on life's terms" but really what that means is to learn to live our life on God's terms, since He is the One that invented life and has told us the right and wrong ways to live it according to His word the bible. Whenever we start using things the wrong way we leave the "use" realm and enter into the "abuse" realm, since everything was designed to only work in certain ways, and within certain parameters.

LK 12:45 But suppose the servant says to himself, `My master is taking a long time in coming,' and he then begins to beat the menservants and maidservants and to eat and drink and get drunk. 46 The master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he is not aware of. He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the unbelievers.

The above scripture talks about someone taking advantage of God's "apparent" absence and giving themselves over to abusing pleasure and mistreating people. It can be easy to think that life is unfair, so we might as well just do whatever we want in order to get through it, but God has placed us here specifically to test us as to whether we will show some self-restraint and obedience to His life-laws, or whether we will just throw all caution to the wind.

PR 25:28 Like a city whose walls are broken down is a man who lacks self-control.

God expects us in life to exercise self-control and restraint toward things that contain pleasure, and in how we treat people. When we just abandon God's rules and start doing whatever we want our life starts getting really bad, really fast; just the same way as if you took a car out on the road while drunk and went on a wild joy ride. People and things can be destroyed in seconds, and we can pay for that lapse of self-control for the rest of our lives.

LK 8:14 The seed that fell among thorns stands for those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by life's worries, riches and pleasures, and they do not mature. 15 But the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop.

What we do with the seeds of God's life-truths and life-directions will determine what kind of crop it produces. Self-indulgence, pleasure abuse, and addiction produce death, whereas obeying God's life-rules will always produce life and a good reward in the end. The wages of sin is always death, so when we violate God's life-rules we can always expect a paycheck of death in some form. But when we obey God's rules things can only get better and better.

RO 6:21 What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death! 22 But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

When we obey God's terms for living life we will receive the gift of eternal life, rather than the penalty of eternal death. Ask yourself this, where has living life according to your terms gotten you? I know for myself that it just got me into a lot of trouble and produced loss and shame. Pray and ask God to help you to begin living life on His terms, and you will see your life and everything that you value steadily improve. God's terms of life will bring true blessing.

PS 19:7 The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul. The statutes of the LORD are trustworthy, making wise the simple. 8 The precepts of the LORD are right, giving joy to the heart. The commands of the LORD are radiant, giving light to the eyes.