In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. John 1:1–2. An Untethered Life If you loved the musical “Wicked” you probably have the song “Dancing Through Life” memorized. It is a real earworm. But the lyrics also reflect the position of many people in our society – people who don’t want to think about the deeper implications of their actions or thoughts or beliefs. Part of the lyrics say: “They want you to become less callow
Less shallow
But I say: why invite stress in?
Stop studying strife
And learn to live ‘the unexamined life.’" Living an unexamined life is part of living an untethered life. Living life day by day and rolling with whatever society is pushing is the easier way to live. Why fight the waves? You’re never going to win! If the majority of people believe that the sky is green and the grass is blue, just go with it! What’s it matter? Besides, that way I get to live life on my terms! I get to be free! But that freedom is a lie. According to Jesus, truth matters. In John 8, he says, “So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, ‘If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.’” Pilate had asked him “What is truth?” Pilate was struggling with the same realities with which we struggle. Here’s the truth. God tethered Himself to us. That is the whole truth. In Jeremiah 31, God says, “For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.” God tethered Himself to us. He made us His people. We are not asked to make up the rules as we go along. He gives us the rules and tethers himself to us so that we have power to live in this broken world. Later this month, we will celebrate the Incarnation of Jesus Christ – the day we call Christmas. It was the day God tethered himself to us by becoming one of us. He took on human flesh so that we would never be alone. We would never need to be afraid. We would never live without purpose. God tethered himself to us so that we can overcome the lies of Satan who constantly encourages us to rebel against the one who has given everything for us. So, the bottom line is this. When you are encouraged to believe something that society says is good but the Bible says is bad, don’t be tempted to live the untethered, unexamined life. God has given us the Holy Scriptures to tell us what is good and what is right. Believe Him. He sacrificed everything for us. And believe what the Word says, not what some human being is saying about the Word. Human beings who are untethered want everyone to be untethered with them. Listen to what the Word says and believe that, because that is the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth | 
