2 Corinthians 5:15
And He died for all, so that they who live might no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf.
“Jesus didn’t die so that you could be comfortable and well-adjusted.”
As I sit here reflecting on Bible Study today, this is the phrase that won’t let me be. The speaker was trying to drive home the point that, though we have been saved from a life of sin, which leads us to pursue all of the petty things of this world, we as Christians still seek the very same things that sinful people seek. She was calling us to step outside of the expectations the world tells us to have for our lives and to step into the grand plan God has designed for us.
Which leaves me with the burning question, how much of my life, after all, is truly the pursuit of those two things; to be comfortable and well-adjusted? In the next couple of years, I hope to buy a house, start a career, and eventually start a family, but where on my list of hopes is the dream to win many for Christ or to serve my community. Unfortunately, I haven’t allowed the sacrifice of my Savior to so pervade my life that I long to follow His example and sacrifice mine. I’m continually bound to the selfish pleasures of this world and, instead of trying to sever all ties and follow Him, I feed those ties by comparing myself to friends and lusting after things other people have that I don’t.
Despite my failings, God has a plan for me. A plan of great self-sacrifice, a plan of continual repentance, and the only plan that can bring me true joy. What is on your “I hope…” list?