UNNECESSARY CONTORTIONS

People treat happiness like an addiction sometimes. It’s as though the most important aspect of our everyday lives is to quickly return to happiness, lest it be lost in the wake of any number of irritable circumstances. We could even say people could come across as anxious or afraid of losing happiness. This is an issue. Not losing happiness that is, but the fear of losing it. We fear it so much that we start to twist our lives around in different directions, hoping for an escape from all the wrong decisions we’ve made that’s brought misery and disappointment. We drink, smoke, have sex, lie to look good, and we buy what we don’t need to sell an appearance of ourselves we don’t even believe in. And it’s all of these contortions derived from many choices seeking something unsustainable that brought the misery in the first place. Why keep twisting?

What’s the opposite of this so-called twisting? Walking by faith and not by sight. Sound cliche? It’s not. Walking by faith means going through the every day swing of life with the faith that God Almighty has our very best interests at heart, and that He is directing our path as long as we follow His roadmap: The Bible.

JOY OF THE LORD IS OUR STRENGTH

Did I lose anyone? For those who are still reading, it’s not rocket science that happiness cannot be maintained, and it doesn’t need to be. We don’t have to turn the pursuit of happiness into an addiction. We want that ‘high’, or that rush, all the time. But life is meant to be lived high on the spirit (Ephesians 5:18). The joy of the Lord is meant to be our strength, not material things from this world. If we live to get a rush, then we aren’t living for Christ. If we are living for Christ, we are filled with joy because of what it means to be a child of God. Sometimes the real problem can be sourced back to forgetting what we are saved from, and also what we have been saved for.

DO WE HAVE TO THINK ABOUT HELL?

I’ve heard sermons on this, so it’s worth mentioning here. God doesn’t just save us from ourselves (our sin), He saves us to Himself. By fortifying us in Christ, nothing can take us out of His hand (John 10:28). That means He’s saved us for eternal life, not just from Hell. Isn’t that amazing? If you don’t think so, maybe we need a refresher course in what life in Hell is like. Sulfur, brimstone (stenches of death and decay, amplified millions of times), heat hotter than anyone could comprehend (our body should be incinerated immediately, but your spiritual body can’t die), endless torture (the demons hate every “image-bearer”, that is, human), absolute and unending loneliness (complete isolation and disconnect from God’s grace or presence). The list goes on… but maybe we can stop there? I don’t like writing about Hell. Do we really need to think more about it, or can we turn back to Jesus now?

LIFE OF A CHRISTIAN

And that’s the point. When we think of Hell, we remember what Jesus saved us from, and that He offers unconditional, unending love—and the price we pay: faith. Faith in His sacrifice and resurrection. A reborn spirit, and a new life in Christ (i.e. New lifestyle, Heaven-based choices, not Earthly ones). We turn away from sin (repentance) and lean on Jesus for everything and anything under the sun. We pray in Jesus name, with boldness and fearlessness. We live in joy and peace and love, extending God-given grace, mercy, compassion, and forgiveness to others just as we have been given each of them. Do this every day for the rest of our human lives, and one day, we meet Jesus face-to-face and live with Him for eternity in a perfect (literally perfect, not a hyperbolic perfect) paradise of absolute joy.

STOP WASTING YOUR TIME

Now, what’s holding many people back? Sin. We want to feel that rush still. But that rush, and depending on it, leads back to Hell. Because it means we’d rather have the rush than God. Whatever you want more than God, is an idol. Whatever you put more energy, thought, and action into, more than you do God, is an idol. Throw those away.

Take the “I don’t know what to believe” to the dumpster out back and open a Bible, get yourself to a church Pastor and community group and starting dissecting what you don’t understand. Dig into what you have a problem with, and get to the root of what’s separating you from receiving Jesus into your heart. Stop wasting time. Life is too short, and then it’s over. Don’t wait!! Don’t wait. Live now, choose now.

DELAYING AN INEVITABLE INEVITABILITY

Remember, there is no “later”. Later is just another way to make ourselves comfortable with the idea of not getting back to what makes us uncomfortable, and avoiding the self-judgement for not taking care of something we really question, deep down, may actually impact our eternal destination. Who cares about our Earthly legacy? What about our Heavenly one? Why put this thought down if we’re wrong in our unbelief? If we’re right, and we decide on Christ but there’s no Heaven, then there’s also no Hell. But if we’re wrong, and we don’t accept Christ, you don’t go to Heaven. Is that a risk worth taking? This is worth ALL the thought and study it takes to answer, because one day when our body dies here, our soul will eternally regret not having chosen that Christ was the only way, truth, and life all along.

AUTHENTIC JOY OF CHRISTIANITY

No one can fake Christianity. A person’s joy is very telling. Faking a smile is one thing. We can’t fake a testimony and live a reborn life if we haven’t received Jesus into our heart, and haven’t received the Holy Spirit. No one can fake that. It’s not like saying, “Okay I believe in Jesus. Happy?” Because there’s no joy in that. We can’t fake the Christian walk. Either we live it, or we don’t. And if we do, our whole life changes, because our whole inner world changes. If it doesn’t, it’s incredibly apparent that nothing is different about us and that we’re just doing as we’re told to by other people. What about what God is telling us?

The joy of Christianity is amazing, because God is always there to push us through all the hard parts of living in a corrupt world. Whereas without God in Christ, living in this ridiculously depraved world is pure mental torture because there is no one to bring true justice to it. How can we live in a world where there will never be any justice for all the sin? Without Jesus, all the pain we experience is for nothing. There is never any joy in pointless agony. But suffering, long-suffering to be specific, with Jesus Christ as the light at the end of the tunnel, is just for a little while longer. And then He will rule His kingdom forevermore.

AN INVITATION TO A DIFFERENT LIFE AND A BETTER FUTURE

I’d rather believe that, I do believe that, and I’m inviting anyone reading this who hasn’t already chosen to believe that, to do it right now. Jesus is the answer you’ve been looking for. He’s our source of joy, our hope in the moment we’re in now, and the light in the darkness. He is everything, and I hope you will take the time to understand that and believe in it for yourself. Truly, wholly, fully, believe it.

I pray this in Jesus name. Amen.

Photo by Alberto Biondi on Unsplash