We compromise so much of our Christianity, and I don't mean in the way of morals and law and the such, but that we subscribe more to a worldly lifestyle than a Godly one, and we do this more than we know. We do this every time we put ourselves before God, or before anyone else for that matter, with our time, money and aspirations, which is practically all the time.
Yet we excuse it - heck, we see nothing wrong with it - because we consider ourselves "upstanding" because we don't do this or that certain "immoral" thing. But we still take on the world's self-centered philosophy all too easily, holding on tight to the ideals of how we think our lives should go, seeking comfort above all and living a life that searches for security in all the wrong places (our jobs, our relationships, etc) instead of surrendering ALL to God. From dreams to finances, we rarely let God be apart of that, and at the end of the day, we're seeking our own self-furtherance instead of the Kingdom.
Who lives a life in which the main aim is spreading the Gospel as well as always actively living it out? Don't we concern ourselves much more with the things of man than heavenly things, barely taking any consideration to the fact that we're all going to die someday, and then what will we have to say of our lives? What will any of this matter when we're dead and forgotten? All else will fade away except our souls and God.
I guess I'm increasingly seeing the vanity in so many of our practices. Things that we take on willingly, yet upon deeper inspection are really bred from the world and are far from what Jesus actually called us to do. To follow Jesus when He walked the Earth was to drop everything and give all wholeheartedly to Him. His disciples left their jobs, left their families, left every idea they originally had for how their lives were going to turn out to follow Him - He was literally their lives. So why would the definition of following Him change now?
I wrestle with this daily. Because I don't think I follow Christ as I really should. I don't think most of us do. We shouldn't be fitting Christ into our lives, but giving our lives fully to Him. The only question we should be asking ourselves in regards to our lives, our plans, etc is "How can I spread the Gospel, the love of Jesus?" and as God reveals that to us, letting everything else fall into place. I'm sick of asking "How can I get myself here in regards to my finances or to this place in regards to my career?" and having those questions dictate the direction, decisions, and motivation of my life. I want to be concerned with nothing but how to get this world to where it should be with Jesus. That's all.
Mark 8:34-38
And calling the crowd to Him with His disciples, He said to them, "If anyone would come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel's will save it. For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? For what can a man give in return for his soul? For whoever is ashamed of Me and of My words win this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.
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