I was driving home from work a few days ago in the middle of rush hour traffic when a car pulled up beside me and proceeded to cut right in front of my car. I watched as five other cars came and did the same farther up the row. I was so irritated that people could be so selfish, when I had been patiently waiting in the lane of traffic, to just cut right in front and keep the rest of us poor souls from advancing through the stoplight.
I briefly thought, how dare they? Who do they think they are??
However, I quickly forgot about this little escapade and went about the rest of my day. I happened to be driving to work the next day (in what seemed to be rush hour traffic yet again) when I decided to slip over into the right lane and cut back left a few cars down. As I was pulling this crafty little maneuver, it suddenly hit me. I had become that person!! I had become the one who annoys everyone by passing them and then cutting them off.
And then I thought, oh well. I’m running late for work, so I have a good excuse.
And it hit me again. How often do we fall into this trap when it comes to Christianity?
I won’t cheat in school unless my grade depends on it. It could ruin my GPA if I don’t!
I won’t lie to my parents unless they would be really mad if I told the truth.
I won’t gossip about that person unless my friend brings it up first.
I won’t go to that party unless all my friends do.
I won’t cut them off unless I’m running really late.
I will proclaim my faith until people start making fun of me for it.
We can all find ourselves in the place of justifying sin. The place of putting conditions on our faith. We convince ourselves that because we do it right most of the time, we can get it wrong once or twice. We use the end to justify the means.
But let me tell you, God is all about the means. When this life is over and we are standing before God in His throne room, I doubt He’s going to ask about how successful we were at the end of our lives. He’s going to look at how we lived the span of our entire life. How we spent each day, each hour. How we served Him when it would have been much easier to abandon the faith altogether.
I feel like the Lord is asking me, who do you serve?
Do you follow My commands all the way up until you have to sacrifice something? All the way up until it makes you uncomfortable? Until you have to suffer a consequence? Or do you always follow them, disregarding the potentially unfavorable outcome?
I want to live my life with abandon, unbothered by any “unless” or “until.” I want to always be committed to the Lord, not just when it’s convenient. I want to live a life that’s all in.
And here’s a thought for you to ponder: what if Jesus approached His time on Earth the way we sometimes approach our faith? What if He decided that He would die on the cross ONLY IF we would change and become worthier of His love?
But He didn’t. He died knowing that His children would reject Him, run back to sin, and fail to accept His free gift of perfect love. He died knowing that we could never be perfect people. He chose to die for us anyway.
So, knowing this, why do we put limits on our own dedication to the Lord? Why do we not lay our lives before God in full surrender, no matter what happens to us in the process? I believe we have surrendered to the standards of the world instead, not fully committing to one conviction.
So let’s make a new commitment today. Join me in choosing to stay the course, even when it might be tempting to stray. Let’s learn to take up our swords and fight the good fight, my friends, and finish the race in front of us.
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“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.” Hebrews 12:1-3
Casting Anchors 