I wonder if a life of following Jesus is a life of suffering? When I reflect on all the many amazing men of the Bible they all seem to have pain and affliction as a common thread running through their lives. I wonder if I have been pulled into some sort of western Christianity that says you can be comfortable and love Christ at the same time? But I don’t think the gospel preaches that message. It actually preaches the opposite (Mark 8: 34-37). I think the life of following Christ means daily giving up your right to be comfortable. We as westerners have made a world that leaves little room for a Savior. We have become our own saviors. We depend and rely on our own strength. We strive for those good jobs that will meet all our financial needs and bless us with security and comfort. But at the same time aren’t we just being good stewards of what God has given us and blessed us with? 
Doesn’t God just want us to be happy and enjoy his blessings? Yes. But I think God really wants us to enjoy him. I think God wants us to praise him. I think God wants us to glorify him. I mean is God really glorified when we say “Lord thank you for blessing me so much with wealth and abundance that I could afford this brand new BMW.” Or is God glorified when we say, “Thank you for blessing me with money so I could feed my children and bless those who can’t feed theirs.”
Doesn’t God just want us to be happy and enjoy his blessings? Yes. But I think God really wants us to enjoy him. I think God wants us to praise him. I think God wants us to glorify him. I mean is God really glorified when we say “Lord thank you for blessing me so much with wealth and abundance that I could afford this brand new BMW.” Or is God glorified when we say, “Thank you for blessing me with money so I could feed my children and bless those who can’t feed theirs.”
If this life is not all about me, then maybe I should stop trying to make it be. Maybe I should consider my life worth nothing, but only something when I have Christ inside of me. I have been trained to think of myself first and not others. Jesus’ life cost him everything. What has this life cost me? Hmm. Not much. I pretty much have everything I could want. Good source of income, good friends, good church, no enemies…
But I also need to remember that I can never do enough. Even sacrificing my life would not be enough for my sins and heartache I have caused. And that is the beauty of the cross. My debt has been paid in full. If I could pay my debt then well I guess there wouldn’t be much need for a savoir to rescue me from the pit of hell. All I know is that Jesus said, “come follow me” (John 1:43). And that is exactly what I need to do.
