what is your life?

The first thought I had of it came in church yesterday morning.  The congregation heard the account of a woman in the hospital who was given a maximum of two days to live. She wanted a chaplain to come and talk with her. In God's merciful providence, the hospital could not get a hold of the chaplain on call. So they called the deacon from our church.  He went in to see her, and the woman, barely able to talk, told him that she wanted her sins to be forgiven. "What does it mean to be a Christian?" she asked him. By God's grace, he told her the good news of Jesus Christ and prayed with her.  This woman found the rest she was searching for - in the Savior.  Merely hours before it happened... 

That afternoon, several families from our church went to visit the local nursing home.  As I played the piano and the children sang songs about the Gospel, my heart was filled with hope.  Here we were in a room filled with so many lonely people.  Those who did have family visiting were accompanied by their guests. Even staff members were present, or would peek their head in the room out of curiosity.  I don't think I had ever seen the room that full. I could barely make my way through the maze of wheelchairs and beds.  All of them were there eager and glad to hear our songs and the message of the Gospel.  What a glorious opportunity!  After we were through singing, I made my way around to say hello to some of the residents. As I held their frail hands, and gave them a smile and  a greeting, I felt an overwhelming sense of the eternal importance of what we were doing.  I had done this countless times before, but never felt such urgency, such joy in giving joy to others.  I prayed that their eyes would not just see cute children and kind people, but the beauty of Christ and the glory of the Gospel.  This could very well have been the last time I would have seen some of these familiar faces.  Praises be to God for the opportunity to show His love and sing of the hope of the Savior.  These dear people are soon to face it...

At home that evening, my family gathered in the living room to listen to an excellent message by CJ Mahaney. One of my sisters and I had heard it given a few weeks ago at Next, but it was the first time to hear it for the rest of the family.  Pastor Mahaney spoke on a topic of first importance, the death of Christ.  He quoted Charles Spurgeon: "We cannot think of that death too often." Then he went on to proclaim the glories of the forsaken Savior and what it meant for Him to be cut off from His Father, and be left to drink the cup of God's wrath alone. "He drained the cup dry, leaving us not a drop to drink. He experienced wrath so that we might experience grace. He was forsaken so that we might be forgiven by the Father... He screamed so that we might sing nothing shall separate us from the love of Christ. He was forsaken so that we might never be forsaken."  What astounding mercy!

Then he spoke about the dying Savior.  And I was reminded again of this fact.  It comes to all men.  The repeated phrase in Genesis 5 "...and he died" will one day be said of every one of us. Will one day be said of me.  And because of the Savior's death, I need not fear death.  Why? Because when I die, "the next face [I will see], and the next voice [I will hear], will be the Savior's!" Because He drained the cup of God's wrath dry for me, I know that only grace remains.  All because of His... DEATH.

We do not know what our futures hold.  But there is one thing certain to happen to all of us... It is the one thing that happens to everyone. Yet it is the one thing we treat as if it will never happen.  Or something that is still a long way off.  Yet James tells us... "What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes." (James 4:14) What does this mean?  It doesn't matter if we live to be a hundred years old, or if we died this very day.  Our lives will be over before we know it.  

So then, the question remains...

"How then shall I live?"

Are we living and breathing to display the only true and lasting treasure - Jesus Christ?  Are we people who are constantly surveying and pointing others to His wondrous cross - His death that makes all the difference in this life and the one to come? Are we counting all earthly things as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus our Lord?  Are we using our material blessings to show that these things are not our treasure - Christ is?  

Or are we storing up for ourselves treasures on earth? Things that may bring us temporary pleasure, but in the end mean nothing when we come to stand before God?

Don't waste your life!

Doing Hard Things... a Joy or a Burden?

A few weeks ago, my sister Emily and I attended the Rebelution Do Hard Things Conference in Gaithersburg, Maryland. It was an incredible experience that I am sure we will not soon forget. At the conference, we both purchased really cool t-shirts. Mine is dark blue, with "Do Hard Things" written on the back. (Exactly like the picture shown). As I wore my shirt around the house a few days later, so excited and ready to do hard things, one of my other sisters, who is 9 years old, made a comment. She said something like this: "Do hard things? Who would want to do that? That shirt should say 'do easy things'!"

While the statement is funny and made me laugh, it also saddened me to see how she misunderstood it. And I also think that there are many, many others who would say the same thing. I mean, really? Why would you want to do something hard when there are so many easier and "fun" things you could do instead? I started saying something like: "No! Doing hard things is good! If you always do what's easy you will waste your life!" I wanted so bad for her to see and understand the foolishness of an easy life and how good it was to do hard things!

But lately, I have been thinking. So often we as Christians think along those same lines. We know that following Christ in this world will be hard. But far too often we give in to that temptation to do what the world and our own sinful nature tells us, which is to do the easy thing. We grow tired of fighting sin so quickly. We even try to rationalize sin by making excuses that are even more sinful.

Every moment of every day we as Christians ought to be resisting sin and striving after righteousness, holiness, and humility for the glory of God in our lives. John Piper wrote in his book What Jesus Demands from the World says that the "Greek word behind the English "strive" is recognizable in English transliteration agonizesthe. You can see the word "agonize" in that Greek word. The implication is that we must struggle, wrestle and exert ourselves." In other words, striving after righteousness and living for Christ is extremely hard.

While we are still on this earth, and still in this weak and fallen flesh, though we are redeemed by Christ's blood, we still must wage war against the powers of evil within and without us (Romans 7). We so often tend to think that the more we grow in godliness and holiness, the easier it will be to overcome sin. How we fail to realize the truth is the exact opposite. It only gets harder. John Owen writes in his book Sin and Temptation, "There is no duty we perform for God that sin does not oppose. And the more spirituality or holiness there is in what we do, the greater is its enmity to it. Thus, those who seek the most for God experience the strongest opposition."

The Lord Himself has called His children to take up their crosses and follow Him. Our merciful Savior Himself endured the greatest hardship and suffering that any human has ever known at the cross of Calvary. Who are we as His followers to think that we deserve an easier life?

Yes this Christian life is hard. And yes this fierce and daily battle will continue as long as we live on this earth. But there is hope and comfort in the Savior, who has promised at the end, to deliver His children from their bodies of death. What a glorious hope we have in Him!

Let us keep pressing on, rejoicing in the great privilege we have as God's children, to be followers of His Son, bearers of His cross, and those who count all earthly gain but loss for the sake of knowing Him! There indeed is nothing harder than living for the Savior in a world and hearts where sin is rampant. But there also nothing that brings greater joy!

"Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto JESUS, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the JOY that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God." Hebrews 12:1