So
maybe I’ll write a book called It’s
Not Easy Being A Christian. The world looks SO much better, right? We go
out and seek what we think will bring us happiness. A great job, a nice house,
tons of clothes (or purses…or shoes….or paper paper paper) or whatever is your
choice of excess. It seems great…..in the moment….but then it fades….like ALL
earthly things fade. What about this? We volunteer, we work ourselves to a
frazzle thinking we’ll be better liked, have tons of friends, lots of followers
until we realize it doesn’t give us the lasting “high” our expectations placed
on it. I can’t help but think about Solomon who had EVERYTHING and more, and
said “it is ALL meaningless”….because “stuff” in this life, people in this life
CANNOT supply lasting happiness. Your company downsizes, marriages fail,
children become wayward, our jobs stink, innocent children die, poverty is
rampant, crime is off the charts.
There is suffering beyond understanding.
There is no end. As a Christian, as a sinner, as a human, I seek the world and
what it offers.
It’s not easy being a Christian.
The false perception is that
if you’re a Christian your life will be fluff and goodness. Jesus says, I have
overcome the world!! He also says, WHEN you have trouble…not IF.
It’s not easy
being a Christian.
Being a Christian did not give me a pass on being a victim
of a very sad, tragic completely avoidable “accident”. Bad things happen to
good people every day. If I hook my happiness to this world, I will have the
ebb and flow of happiness…sorrow….happiness….sorrow….and on it goes.
It’s not
easy being a Christian.
I still make wrongs choices, say the wrong things……indulge
in earthly pleasures……I find myself seeking momentary happiness in material
possessions.
It’s not easy being a
Christian.
Being a Christian does not make me a perfect person. What it does is
change my heart. I begin to desire to be more like Jesus. To love
unconditionally, to defend the poor, support the weak. To do good works, not to
work myself to heaven, but out of thanksgiving for what Jesus did on the cross
for me.
It’s not easy being a Christian.
But at the end of the day when the
world looks bleak and my happiness is subject to my own striving I KNOW that
this world is not all there is. It’s not easy being a Christian but it is my absolute
guarantee for true and lasting joy. Joy IN Christ!
It’s not easy being a Christian.
I’m called to live IN the world but not OF the world. I’m asked not to indulge
the flesh. I’m commanded to live modestly. I’m commanded to be humble. I’m
commanded to lay down my life for another. I’m commanded to love others as I
love myself. Not easy and I fail often! But I have a Savior that loves me
enough to forgive me. Once I invite him into my heart his word says “no one can
snatch you from my hand”. He will never leave me nor forsake me. A promise
FOREVER. If you are not a Christ follower this world is all there is. If you
are a Christ follower you know that this life is but a whisper and that eternal
life lies ahead. I read a quote that goes likes this:
“I’d rather spend my whole
life on earth believing and following God to die and find out there is no God
than to live a whole life believing there is no God and die to find out there
is”.
We don’t get a do over but we do have a choice NOW. Is this world and all
it’s troubles worth believing that this is all there is?
