"This is serious business."

This is something I've been thinking about for a while. It's nothing revolutionary, just something that hit me one day that has hit a million other people before. But we all have our journey of growing and learning, and each lesson is still just as true and valid, no matter when someone learns it. Anyway...on to the point....if I can figure out how to present the point....bluntly, I think.

This following Jesus thing is serious business. And I don't say that to make it seem like drudgery. Just because something's serious, doesn't mean it's a dull, tiresome chore. But when somebody says they're going to follow Jesus, it shouldn't be taken lightly.

In other areas of life, people make commitments, pledges, promises, and manage to follow through. And Jesus is so much bigger than anything else. But so much of the time, people who say they choose to follow Christ don't actually live like it. And I'm not singling anyone out, nor am I saying that I alone have it all right. I include myself in the "people." So this is as much for me as for anyone else.

And I'm not trying to be legalistic or imply that anybody can do anything to find favor with God or anything of the sort. God doesn't love us for what we do. He doesn't save us because we manage to do something to please him. We don't get to spend all of eternity with him because we do the most good deeds. This has nothing to do with salvation or pleasing God, because nothing we do can save us or affect how God sees or thinks of us.

Jesus did the ultimate thing that anyone could do for us. He died to break the power of sin and came back to life so that we can have life. If somebody else does something good for you, don't you usually try to at least acknowledge it and show them respect for what they did. So even more so we should do the same with Jesus.

In addition to that, God knows how things work. He knows what's good for all of us and what's not-so-good for all of us. So when he says, "Hey, this isn't such a good idea," then we should pay attention, and heed his wisdom.

That's what "the Christian life" is about. Not that we're trying to earn something, but that good exists and it is worthy of us striving toward it. Or more to the point, Jesus is worthy of us striving after him.

But no pressure! Remember, God's not going to love us any more or any less. We will fall short, but his grace is abundant. So when you mess up, don't get stuck in a rut, because it's not about what you do! Even so, this is still serious business.

I thought about this a lot while I was at camp, because I hoped that all of us as a staff, through what we said and did, showed those kids that we take following Jesus seriously. Again, not because he's going to abandon us if we don't, but because he doesn't abandon us. Ever.

I started thinking about this a while back when I started getting this "I'm all alone feeling," which is never true. Regardless of truth, though, I was feeling like I was the only one around fighting for goodness, purity, righteousness and such. I'm not, of course, and in reality I don't fight for it as much as I should. But that was the feeling, and I'm sure I'm not the only one who has felt that way. Showing that we could all do a better job at being faithful in following Christ.

So if you're reading this (which, I'm pretty sure a few people usually read what I write), let this be a reminder to you, as well as encouragement. This is serious, but not because you have to do something for God to care about you. He already does, and that won't change. We just need to keep focused on Jesus and he will give us all the strength and guidance we need to live our lives.

I'm sure this is incomplete. I hope it's not too scattered. I know my brain is scattered and what I write usually resembles what I think. Bottom line, remember the motivation behind what you do and where your strength comes from. And when that's in focus, "doing the right thing" is much less of a torturous battle.




P.S. - Bonus points if anyone can tell me what I am quoting in the title.