THE STOMACHACHE
For those of us who’ve spent a large portion of our lives eating unhealthy food on a regular basis, we’ve learned to expect a stomachache; the intestinal discomfort of the gut’s rejection of ingredients our body finds little to no nutritious value in at all. We expect to spend a longer time in the bathroom trying to rid our bodies of what it doesn’t actually need.
Later on, once we’ve eaten the most organic, healthy foods, the only benefit we might experience right away is how our body gracefully responds to digesting ingredients we do need.
A HEALTHIER ALTERNATIVE WE MIGHT NOT BE CONSIDERING
Sadly, when much of our lives are spent ingesting unhealthy foods, we don’t always think about feeling comfortable from food, or more satisfied—from another, healthier source.
Sometimes we’re so used to what we can afford, or we’ve become so acclimated to what we’ve been given, that we often miss identifying that we might desire something better if we only knew there was something better to choose from.
SATISFIED AND FILLED BY WHAT WE NEED
Furthermore, it’s not just our body’s positive response to digesting that feels nice, but even more lovely is the experience of enjoying the taste of healthy foods. In time, our taste palette in food will also calibrate to prefer healthy food, rather than just needing it. It’s a process. Sometimes, trying the right thing after having tried the wrong things for so long… doesn’t quite taste right, even though it’s better for us.
This is because there was a manipulation that took place: unhealthy ingredients with unnatural sweeteners caused us to believe we wanted junk food that tasted delicious even though it caused stomach unease. Now, we enjoy both the taste and the feeling of being satisfied and filled by the type of food our body is designed to be thrive on.
DEPRIVING THE SOUL OF WHAT IT DOESN’T NEED
Like the body needs healthy food to function at full capacity, so our soul needs specific spiritual replenishment we may not be naturally relying on; spiritual “food” we may not have even been aware we were lacking.
Our soul needs the deprivation of lies; the juicing of bad habits such as addictions; a break from ingesting manipulative news (material that attracts unnecessary attention and increases media ratings, but lacks identifying with objective truth and integrity), and the recalibration of what is healthy in terms of supportive social circles (involvement in small groups from church, for example). We need to deprive ourselves of our spiritual laziness and start praying on our knees in private each day.
MISSED OPPORTUNITIES TO BLESS OTHERS
Some of us celebrate the idea of retirement as though the absence of work is the ideal, as though the desire to pull ourselves back from offering our existence for purposeful service is a thing to be praised. We don’t always celebrate life by investing in enhancing the lives of others; rather, we work diligently towards evading worldly discomfort—even if it’s at the expense of others’ time and needs.
Some of us have not learned the humility of recognizing the fruit of being used by God as a blessing to others. We haven’t gained the eyesight, nor the spiritual maturity, of noticing the richness within the blessing of giving without expectation. We’ve tasted the sweet lie of selfishness without having ingested the replenishing, humbling qualities of grace and sacrificial love.
THE MINDSET OF ETERNITY
Every day, God is giving me the grace to feel conviction by detecting the emptiness in what others share about celebrating worldly accomplishments, as though they are more treasurable than bringing hope to those dying for love, compassion, and purpose. We aren’t here for worldly accomplishments.
If we short-sightedly believe we are, then the belief that follows is generally that our existence is enveloped around the sole, nihilistic purpose of beating everyone else standing in the way between us and a prize. A prize that one day soon after receiving it, no one will care anything about; only those who care about prizes and not about God and His bigger purposes for our lives.
This should be the “hearing” of every Christ-follower: to discern the cry of the needy and seek out the opportunity to be used by Christ in a hurting world hoping for an obedient God-fearing man or woman to live out our answer to the Good News the Church is grounded upon. That’s is something to celebrate and aim for with a kingdom-of-heaven mindset.
BECOMING THE COMPASSION IN SOMEONE’S SUFFERING
When we miss the fulfilling opportunity of helping others find hope (especially due to our own lack of belief), we tend cover up the void in our lives created by our lack of desire to serve by trying to avoid considering our selfishness. Our narcissistic tendencies can be so deep that we don’t even realize the reason we’re bored—one of the main reasons, in fact, a lot of us turn to substance abuse in the first place—is to numb out from what we feel as a natural consequence of choosing not to love others with our time.
We’ve gotten used to the taste of the fake ingredients of niceness and small-talk, but we haven’t appreciated the gourmet feast that resonates with the soul as the reason why we mourn with friends, or share intimate moments with our spouses; we become people worthy of strangers sharing their story so we can be the compassion they need in their suffering.
SELF-ABUSE TO AVOID THE VOID
That’s what it looks like for those of us who don’t use alcohol merely when we’re in physical pain, or who do not drink it only as a moderate aid towards rest or sleep. There are those who instinctively resort to the voracious drinking of anything strong enough to contribute to their celebration of escapism. We’ve acclimated to the life of not wanting to partake in the admittance of our lack of control; our lack of self-discipline, and the root of the void in our souls that cries out for our Lord Jesus before we even know His name.
MISSING THE POINT: THERE IS NO PUZZLE TO COMPLETE
It’s the same with drugs: we’ve acclimated. Some of us may occasionally use marijuana for the medicinal purposes it’s most optimally designed for, but many of us smoke it as a habitual lifestyle of avoiding the incumbency of maintaining a sharp mind. This ritual undermines the organization of an intact lifestyle, and malnourishes the preparing of ourselves for a sense of mental discipline and awareness of the calling to live a life of faith and obedience to God in Christ. We have no excuses; we merely make them up to fit into a puzzle that lacks even the hint of an actualized whole.
HOW WE USE THIS LIFE CHANGES OUR MOURNING
There is no trophy for the broken-hearted who lost everything today. There is only the hope of their tomorrow, if they reach tomorrow with their integrity intact. There’s no need to bring out the vodka for someone mourning. They only need our tears, our affection, and our sympathetic silence. They only want a peace of mind. But there is no peace of mind if there is no peace inside.
We keep telling ourselves we have to find something new to fill in the part of ourselves that’s missing purpose and comfort. But, unfortunately, we are ill-equipped for the losses and adversities of this life when we aren’t using this life to prepare for eternity.
SHOW-STOPPER BEFORE THE AFTERLIFE
When we live this life like there is no afterlife, we drink like alcohol is our best friend. We smoke like the substances will save us from ignorance. But the only thing that can cure us of ignorance is awareness, and we can’t be both aware and drunk (or high) at the same time. We can’t learn to grow in maturity and wisdom if we’re not consistently physically sober, mentally present, emotionally available, or spiritually humble and docile with a heart posture towards the Lord. Sure, we can grow—a little—but without maintaining a stable life, we will stumble enough that “growth” will feel like two steps forward, and four steps back each time.
AT THE TOP IS NOTHING AND NO ONE BUT GOD
We are too accustomed to ingesting what we don’t need from a society that doesn’t believe in the only God that can give it what it needs most. We’re not merely lost, we’re blind… and we’re ignorantly, actively practicing lifestyles to keep ourselves that way. We’re living in sin that keeps us from knowing God. God sent us the way out of being fooled by the most cunning of all liars, the devil, who wants us to believe all there is in this life is the desire to be the best, and to escape every other moment that doesn’t result with us on top, by dominating everyone else.
When we get there, if we get there, we’ll realize how lonely we are, because that isn’t the will of God. God doesn’t need any of us on top. He needs us to know He’s on top, and that He sent His Son, Jesus—the Bread of life (John 6:35)—to save us from the sin of choosing ourselves to be god instead of Him. We can still come off our high, come out of our stupor, sober out of our drunkenness—and come into the light of faith in Jesus Christ as Lord. But our time to choose is relative; many of us wait too long, and then our time is up.
THE PLAN THAT TAKES US FROM GOD
If we don’t choose Jesus, we’ll keep perusing through life making up stories/excuses to keep trying to make as much sense out of life as we can within a narrative that doesn’t line up with our excuses. That’s how we know God’s plan is bigger than ours: His started before the creation of the world (Ephesians 1:4)—yet, we believe we can do better. We believe we can strive higher. That’s what Lucifer thought too, and then he was cast from heaven down to earth like lightning (Luke 10:18). He became Satan, and now we’re battling God with the same war that was already won in Jesus’s sacrificial death on the cross, and resurrection from the grave.
We battle God with a lack of faith, but the problem is that our lack of faith forfeits our position! We live a life of sin to evade, escape, and numb out, and that very decision is what sends us away from God for eternity when we die here. It’s staggeringly preventable, and yet so many people make that decision.
NARROW AND WIDE GATES
There’s no need to celebrate what this world offers. Everything in this life dies. Everything here is eventually destroyed (Matthew 24:35). But we can start investing in the kingdom of heaven now, and stop wasting precious time with the things of this world. Many will continue down the wide gate that leads to destruction, but that doesn’t mean we all will (Matthew 7:13).
The Bible says some of us, a few (Matthew 7:14)—will surrender everything we are in the name of Jesus Christ. We will walk the narrow gate, which leads to eternal life. We will celebrate life, because life is all that exists in the presence of God. All that matters in this life is pursuing God, loving Him with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength (Matthew 22:37). Loving our neighbor as ourselves (Mark 12:31). We must celebrate that with every day we’re given, by the grace of God.
WHAT TO REALLY CELEBRATE WHILE WE’RE HERE
Celebrate another breath, another chance to tell someone that they’re loved by God in Christ. Use today to celebrate the opportunity to be a blessing in someone’s life, whether they’re mourning, or just need a listener ear. Celebrate the imminent kingdom of heaven by living today as though it were our last, making the choices that lead to the glory of God and not to the glory of ourselves or the world (Luke 10:9).
START LIVING AND LET GO OF THE WORLD
Put everything else away. Forget about it. Let’s repent from our sinful ways and turn towards Jesus with everything. Give it all. This is the time since we don’t know when our appointed time is. Use this day, use this time—wisely, intentionally, purposefully—use it to be the vessel for Christ we are called to be. Celebrate the meaning of life we’re created for through Christ. Let the dead bury the dead. Start living and letting go of what’s keeping us here. Nothing here is worth it. There is only power in the name of Jesus. Live like it, do it, embrace it, surrender to it, and abide by it to your dying breath.
All the glory and praise goes to our King, Jesus Christ. Amen!
Image by Dominik Hatttenberger from Pixabay
