Comfortable

"Christianity has not been tried and found wanting; it has been found difficult and not tried." ~ Gilbert K. Chesterton

My life is comfortable. I have a great family - I know a lot of people say that, but I really do. My parents love each other, they love me, and they take care of our family. I have four younger brothers, and they are my best friends. We live in a beautiful home in downtown Colorado Springs, a city which recently came in third as one of the “Best Cities for Relocating Families.” I could go on and on, but the point is, I really can't complain about my life.

Lately God has been speaking a lot to me about my easy Christian lifestyle. I've found myself standing at the foot of a wall called Comfort. Beyond it lies a life of intensified holiness, but there is a cost: I'll have to give up the security that the wall provides me. But enough with the symbolism. In Matthew 16:24-26 Jesus says,

"If anyone would come after me,
he must deny himself
and take up his cross and follow me.
For whoever wants to save his life
will lose it, but whoever loses his life
for me will find it.
What good will it be for a man
if he gains the whole world,
yet forfeits his soul?
Or what can a man give
in exchange for his soul?"

Growing up in a Christian community, I've always known that Christianity is not meant to be easy. But this knowledge is only now beginning to penetrate my heart. I'm at this point in my life that I can no longer justify pacing back and forth behind this wall of comfort, I either need to set camp or climb over.

I'm not much of a risk-taker, but I want to scale this wall. Dissatisfaction is brimming up inside of me, and God is beginning to drop some ideas onto my heart of what it looks like to live in greater obedience to Him. We weren't designed to live in apathy, we aren't destined for living within the status quo. Jesus came that we may have life, and have it to the full (John 10:10).

I'm ready to delve into more of the life God has for me. What is there to lose?

So right here I am giving myself a challenge: to be aware of the moments in which God is offering me a chance to go deeper in Him. Recognize my fear of the unknown and uncomfortable, and count the cost. Forsake the ease of this current life for something so much greater. He is worthy.

"Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, singing: 'To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power, for ever and ever!" ~ Revelation 5:13