In her book, “Passport through Darkness”, Kimberly L. Smith writes, “who of us wants to give up our notion of what we think our lives should look like so that we are available for Him to use?” Read that again and let it sink in. I think it hits at what lies at the root of our reluctance to fully surrender our lives to Jesus. We all have dreams and ambitions, a vision for what we want our lives to look like. Quite honestly, serving Jesus tends to get in the way of the pursuit of those dreams. Following Christ necessitates that we let go of all of our ambitions and plans; all of them, no exceptions. That’s a heavy cost that most are not willing to pay.
mission
Gateway Sins
According to Wikipedia, “The gateway drug theory (also called gateway theory, gateway hypothesis and gateway effect) states that the use of less deleterious drugs can lead to a future risk of using more dangerous hard drugs or crime.” I think sin is a lot like this. Satan uses a “gateway sin” strategy to lure us into situations where we never expected to find ourselves. I’ve observed that the strategies of Satan are fairly consistent, merely variations on a theme. His goal, much as it was in the Garden of Eden, is to only slightly blur the lines for us. He doesn’t try and whitewash the entire canvas.
Why Are You a Christian?
Why do you follow Jesus? Is it because you are looking to have your physical or material needs met? A large number of Christians only pray in times of need. As long as things are cruising smoothly along, they have little time for prayer and even less time to actually pursue the mission of Christ. Jesus is just something that sounded good at some point in their lives, but that was a long time ago. Now He is not much more than a convenient source of help when problems arise. Living this way is sacrificing your future for some very short lived pleasures today.
Losing Concentration
In 1978, Alexander Solzhenitsyn addressed the graduating class at Harvard saying, “Many of you have already found out what others will find out in the course of their lives that truth eludes us as soon as our concentration begins to flag, all the while leaving the illusion that we are continuing to pursue it.” I believe this holds true for the Western Church today. Much like the Pharisees in Jesus’ day, we have heaped rules and regulations onto the teachings of Christ. In the centuries that have followed His death, Christianity has often looked little like its namesake. Instead of being an all-inclusive people loving and serving others in their desperation, we have become somewhat of a closed society, a secret handshake club that does our best to keep the world at bay. We have lost our concentration on the person of Jesus and have been lulled to sleep, convinced that we are still pursuing His truth.
Not of This World
I don’t belong here and neither do you. You don’t have to get to know me very well before you see my distaste and discomfort with our world. More than anything I want to be in the presence of my Savior. I don’t waste much time on trivial things or small talk because I have a sense of the urgency of my time on this planet. Honestly, I’d give up my remaining days right now in order to be with Jesus. This doesn’t mean there aren’t things about this world I enjoy. I have a wife, dogs, family, and friends, and I love them all. But nothing compares to the love I have for Jesus.