I lead a
comfortable life.
I like
comfort. I could even say I dislike
discomfort so much that I’d do anything to avoid it. But, I am becoming more aware that a comfortable
life leads to shackles. For one thing,
it seems that comfort becomes addictive; the more you have, the more you
want. You get to the point where the
least bit of discomfort is the most awful thing you can imagine. Anything that could be the least bit
uncomfortable (like telling someone about Jesus) is out of the question.
Probably
worse of all, living a comfortable life leads to an unnatural fear of death.
Our lives become so comfortable that we can’t imagine anything beyond that
could be any better. This is when
comfort becomes a barrier that keeps us from Jesus.
I sometimes
am lead into a weird impression of the early days of the Church and think that
they had it so good… after all, their lives were so uncomfortable that it was
“easy” for them to focus on Jesus, and life eternal. How comfortable of me, thinking I have it so
bad being so comfortable.
Comfort is
not bad, but it makes things harder for a Titus 2 man. A comfortable life leads to a familiarity
with the world that we were never meant to have. And, a love of the world and
our comfortable life makes us less excited about the prospect of Heaven, and the
unspeakable wonder of being there. Worse
of all, we stop seeking Jesus and trying to be like Him, our motivation
evaporates. Is it any wonder that in the
comfortable societies in the world, the culture of “living in the moment”, “he
who dies with the most toys wins”, in short, selfish, man-centred idolatry is
flourishing?
Paul offers
this about heaven, in 2 Corinthians 12:2-4:
“I
know a man in Christ fourteen years before (whether in the body, I do not know;
or outside of the body, I do not know; God knows) such a one was caught up to
the third Heaven. And I know such a man
(whether in the body, or outside of the body, I do not know; God knows), that
he was caught up into Paradise and heard unspeakable words, which it is not
allowed for a man to utter.”
And that’s
third heaven, imagine seventh heaven!
Paul says
that there is something beyond this comfortable life that is so wonderful, we
haven’t even invented words that can describe it. The desire for that and for the
One who lives there and died on a cross to make it possible needs to motivate
our lives, not what we have here. The
desire for us to be with Him in heaven motivated Jesus to go to the cross, the
apostles to go to horrific deaths, and so many Christians throughout the ages
to endure so much. It wasn’t because
their lives were so terrible, it was because they knew, and sought, something
better, someone better. We need to seek Him as well, and not seek comfort.
