A Wasted Life?

Why do we do the things we do? What motivates us as we make our way through life? These two questions are key if we are to understand what it is that makes us tick. All us are doing something, the question is why? For many, this question will seem irrelevant and if any answer were to be given, it would be something like, 'I want to live a happy life' or 'I want to do what I want to do' (emphasis on 'I'). And so when it comes to my life as a Christian, people seem somewhat confused, perhaps even angered whenever I express any desire to live my life for God. Surely I'm limiting myself, surely I'm entitled to live my life my way, surely I'm restricting my options as I seek to live for God. I understand all these objections, mostly because I too held this point of view. For years I couldn't understand how Christians could allow their lives to be dictated by a God. I was repelled by the idea that someone outside of my life could tell me what I could or could not do. The problem however is that to be quite honest, my picture of the God of Christianity was way of the mark. Far from being a God who is set on depriving us of joy, he is a God who has promised to fill us with fullness of joy (Psalm 16:11). 

To try and help us understand why Christians are prepared to give their lives for Jesus, I want us to consider another question, 'what spurs you to do something for someone else?'. A friend lends you money to get on the bus; maybe next time you see that friend you'll buy him a drink for his trouble. A wealthy uncle buys you a new car; perhaps you'll write him a long letter expressing thanks and maybe even visit him once in a while. What about if someone knows that you owe a great debt and pays it in full; perhaps you'll remember this act of kindness for the rest of your life. What about if someone were to die for you? If you were facing the death penalty, facing not only certain death, but suffering beyond anything anyone has ever experienced. How would you behave towards the one who died in your place? What would you do for the one who gave up all for you? This is very much at the heart of the Christian message. God in his great mercy sent his Son to die for sinful people like you and me. The Bible says that you and I are by nature objects of wrath, yet all those who repent and turn to Christ, are no longer objects of God's wrath but objects of his mercy. It is therefore in view of this mercy that a Christian is spurred on to want to live a life for God. In my choice of career, the way I use my body, the language that comes out of my mouth, my relationships with friends, my future spouse, what I eat and drink. In every area of my life, if I have truly understood what Jesus has done for me, it is pure joy to live every area of my life for him. 

It is important to say that wanting a good career, desiring to get married, owning certain possessions, eating good food and drinking good drink, these things in themselves are good. In fact the Bible says these are good gifts from God.

I perceived that there is nothing better for them than to be joyful and to do good as long as they live; also that everyone should eat and drink and take pleasure in all his toil—this is God's gift to man. (Ecclesiastes 3:12-13). 

The difference is that a Christian will say that although all these things are good, they are not what we are to live for. One way to think about it is like a friend who gives you a gift. Why do we give people gifts? On the one hand we like to make those closest to us happy, and there is no easier way of making someone happy then by giving them a gift. On the other hand, what we are really saying when we give this person a gift is that you are of great value to me. In fact, the more we value someone, it normally follows that we bestow on them a greater gift. I might spend £5 on a friend at work and be satisfied with that, but when it comes to a parent or a husband or wife, I may be willing to spend up to £50 or more. The cost of the gift often says something about the giver. The cost of the gift also says something about the nature of the relationship between the giver and the receiver. With this in mind, we live in a world filled to the brim with the gifts of God. Everything around us was made by the mind of the Creator. Without him there would be nothing. Not only this, but without him we would cease to exist. Every single breath we take is a gift from God. Now you may or may not believe in God, but whether you do or you do not, there can be none of this wishy-washy talk of there 'might' be a God. Either there is or there isn't. The question therefore is simple - can we be sure? It is an important question because if there is enough evidence to say there is a God, then our lives take on not only a whole new meaning, but a whole new trajectory. With God in the picture, our lives do matter, our lives do count, and what we do with them makes a huge difference to how we will spend eternity. 

Maybe you're still not convinced. Yet hopefully you are beginning to see that for the Christian, how we view the world cannot help but be influenced by the passionate conviction that there is a God and there is a day when we will stand before him. A certain day where we will either bow the knee in glad submission or in fear and trembling. True Christianity is not a hobby as some like to think. Dipping in and out of church when it suits my schedule, saying a few prayers when it seems most appropriate, treating Jesus as a personal butler beckoning to the bell of my daily needs. If Christianity is nothing more then a lifestyle choice, it is no more different than having a membership at a local gym. I see it as something that does me good, and at certain times of the year I may experience a sudden urge to be more committed, yet it rarely stays the course. I end up thinking that the occasional attendance will ensure I'm at least putting in some effort, and will in some way show those around me that I am part of the club even though deep down I'm questioning whether or not it's really worth it. Isn't this the Christianity that we have come to see all around us? A Christianity that puts me at the centre. A Christianity that if we think about it, makes little of Christ. 

What if? That's a good question now isn't it? What if Jesus really is the Son of God, what if he really is God in the flesh, what if he really is the promised saviour of the world, what if he really did die on a Roman cross for the sin of humanity, what if he really did rise from the dead, what if he really did appear to his disciples and hundreds of others in Jerusalem, what if he really did ascend into heaven, what if he really is going to come again to judge the living and the dead, what if he really is your Lord and God? You may say - what if he isn't? Fair comment - but what if he is? Do you see how important it is to get Jesus right. He isn't some possible choice on a religion pick-n-mix stand. No, what makes Jesus different from every other religious leader, or so called religious nut, is that Jesus claimed to be God, and he not only made such an outrageous claim, he backed it up by his life, death and resurrection. I hope now you're beginning to see what motivates a Christian to live their life for God. In the person of Jesus Christ, we see God revealing himself to a broken world, but more than that, we see a God who gets up close and personal with the ones he has created. At the time, his creatures did not know it but they were walking alongside the God of the universe, they were speaking with the very one who is able to look into the heart of every person that has ever lived. This God not only entered into our world, he willingly chose to die on a cross. His greatest gift to us was the gift of himself. Paul in his letter to the Romans writes:

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. 

(Romans 6:23).

Our sin, that is, our separation from God due to our rebellion against our creator, living in his world without him. Our sin, a consequence of the first rebellion where the first people chose to ignore God's command and instead reject his will for their lives. Our sin, a condition that leaves us owing a debt beyond comprehension to God and the impending sentence of punishment by death. Our sin that leads to death. The more we grasp the seriousness of our condition before a holy and righteous God, the more we begin to see that what God offers us in his Son is no small thing. Remember the gifts? What does the gift of God's Son dieing on a cross, taking upon himself our sin, paying our debt, facing our punishment, what does this gift tell us about the giver and the receiver? It tells us that the receiver is loved much by the giver. It tells us that the giver is prepared to show his love in the most costly way possible. We read in John's first letter:

This is how God showed his love among us: he sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. (1 John 4:9-10). 

It is the love of this God and his unfathomable mercy that motivates the Christian to live a life with him at the centre. Putting God first may seem like we are committing ourselves to a life in some divine straight-jacket, but on the contrary, laying your life before the one who made it, is the most freeing way to live. Why, you ask? In short, life is only found in the one who made it, and the one who made it is only found in Jesus. Most of us live as though the here and now is all that counts. I've got to make the most of my life now because however many years I get, that's my lot. Once I'm dead and buried (or cremated) that's it, there is nothing more. If this is true then striving to amount possessions, seeking success through career or education, living for that relationship all makes sense, because once I'm gone so are they. Pleasure now while I can get it. Possessions now while I can have them. People now while I am with them. 

Jesus words however turns this type of living on its head. Speaking to a crowd and his disciples he said these staggeringly counter cultural words:

Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: ‘Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it. What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? (Mark 8:34-37). 

Do you see what Jesus is saying here? Whoever wants to save their life (live for possessions, pleasure, people, comfort, creation, cash) will in the end, if these things become bigger then God, taking his place, cause us to lose our life. Yet, he then says in the same breath, whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel (being prepared to live for Jesus whatever the cost) will save it. This doesn't make any sense in a world that is dead set on the here and now. More success, more money, more possessions, better sex, better house, better phone, equals more happiness and a better life. Jesus unequivocally says no. You may think these things will make you happy, but when all is said and done, they cannot satisfy your soul. He goes on to say that someone may gain the whole world, yet end up forfeiting their soul. As mentioned earlier, there is nothing wrong with these things, but when they become our life, when they consume all our time, energy and resources, our obsession with the gifts, ends up robbing us of the true joy that can only be found in the giver. The reality is that there is nothing this world could offer us that comes close to what God offers us in Christ. Paul understood this when he explained to the church in Philippi his reason behind his radical way of living:

What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ – the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith. 

(Philippians 3:8-9). 

To truly understand why a Christian seeks to put God first, you really need to understand the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus as Lord. To go back then to our original questions. Why do we do the things we do? What motivates us as we make our way through life? For the Christian, the ultimate motivation is the gospel of Jesus Christ. The amazing truth that there is a God who made us, knows us and loves us, so much that he sent his own Son to die for us. It is this truth that makes everything else look pale in comparison. Of course the Christian wants to do well in life, be happy, have a good job, maybe even get married one day, but it is not these things that define the Christian's life. It is not these things, that will on the day of death be the markers of whether or not I made the most of my days. The Christian instead looks forward knowing that one day he will meet his maker face to face, and on that day the size of his house or bank balance will be of no relevance. Instead, he will be ready to say, I did it all for you, I was by no means perfect, but I chose to follow your Son knowing that in him alone is salvation, hope and eternal life with you. 

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. (John 3:16-18).