I sometimes wonder how many thousands of people each weekend walk into their local church looking for answers and a path to a better life only to walk out as empty and confused as the state they walked in? People are searching for life! They want a better life, a satisfied life and a complete life.
We Christians promise them if you just come to our church, if you live the way we do, if you give your money to the church, if you just become one of us your life will be fulfilled and satisfied! We tell people there is a void in their lives that only God can fill, then proceed to tell them the way to fill this void is to become one of us! When they do as we say and still are unfulfilled we tell them it’s because they haven’t found their ‘ministry’ in the church yet, or because they are not part of a small group. Yet they join a small group or start serving in a ministry and still feel completely unsatisfied!
I believe this is a huge problem in the church today. When people see their lives no better than what it was before they entered the church they will start to search for God and the meaning to life in different arenas. We Christians have the key to a full life, yet in the act of being sensitive and relevant we totally ignore the real power behind this life.
Jesus had a problem one day when the majority of his followers deserted him. They had come to Jesus for a better life. They had seen his healings, his miracles, they had heard his teachings and were amazed at what this man could do. However, in all this amazement they had forgotten who Jesus actually was. When Jesus reminded them that he was the ultimate sacrifice for humankind, and if they wanted to really follow him that they must sacrifice their lives as well, they ran away as fast as they could.
The great news is that there is a life that is full, satisfied and incredible and it is open to everyone; the problem is that it will cost you your life to live it! Jesus spoke to his followers about this and it is recorded in Luke 9:23-24. He tells us that on a daily basis we must make a sacrifice of our lives for him. Then as we give up our lives, Jesus will save it and give us real life! You see it is impossible to see how great life could be without the act of death!
One day in Jerusalem Jesus make a life sacrifice in which he put a heavy cross on his back and carried it up a hill, then gave up his life on that cross. Not because he was a masochist, but because he wanted us to have life. Jesus tells us that we also have to take up our daily cross (sacrifice) and when we do this we will find life. The Christian message is nothing without the awesome power of the cross.
On most Sundays, we hear of messages of building a better life, creating better families, more intimate marriages, becoming a person of good character but we rarely hear a message of daily sacrifice unto God. We may not like the message, but daily sacrifice is the only way to true incredible abundant life. So I ask you, what cross are you going to pick up today for the sake of life in Jesus?
Over the coming months I will be writing on occasions about the crosses I have chosen to take up this year all in the hope that not only myself, but many others will find the true authentic life Christ promised for us! So watch this space!!
