Not Always Easy – by Desmond Ford
May 10, 2016 2325
It appears to us that those without God live an easy life while those who are Christian live uncomfortable lives. That’s because morality and faith matter more than comfort, and touch the divine Source of reality. Jesus says we are to take up the cross. The alternative is an empty, meaningless life.
Being a Christian makes life more interesting but not necessarily more comfortable. Once you accept that morality is more than habit or prejudice, then you accept that it is rooted in an eternal Source. That means we cannot lightly ignore the constraints on our behavior this idea imposes.
In God’s world, what people think and do are not matters of indifference. “God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows” (Galatians 6:7 NIV). Dishonesty often allures. Wantonness appears delicious. Brutality is expedient. Indolence, agreeable. But giving place to these is ludicrous if there is God! So the believer turns from the enticing prospect of being undisciplined, to the tensions and trials of living under God’s claims.
What spiritual insights we have are drops of water that come from an eternal Fountain. We are correct to think that our personalities are reflections of God. Our selfhood is always on the verge of endless possibility.
People who believe in moral causes must invest themselves in them. They cannot observe the struggle for values from the sidelines. They know that what ought to be, must be! They care deeply about injustice. They take up the cause of the violated and the dispossessed. From Christ who has gone before they hear the words. “Take up the Cross and follow me.” (See Matthew 10:38: 16:24.) They know Christ’s words are a terrible, yet magnificent, summons. They know everything will be asked of them. Likely, they will sample the fellowship of Christ’s sufferings. Though turning back would be easier, they do not.
Will you continue to follow Christ?
– Des Ford. Matthew 10:38. Adapted from “The Gospel Down Under”
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