There it sits. Staring you right in the face. Your heart starts to pound. Your mind begins to race.
Should you grab the donut or opt for a fruit cup? Would it be ok to sneak a peek at the answer key to an upcoming test or spend hours studying? Will you turn in the lost wallet with all the cash or take a “tip” for yourself beforehand? Shall you strap on your tennis shoes and head to the gym for a work out or stay planted on the couch? Are you going to stay snuggled under the covers for a few more minutes of snoozing or peel yourself out of bed for some quiet time with the Lord?
You must make a choice… but what will it be??
So… what’s it gonna be?
It’s a constant battle of easy versus hard.
And the bottom line choice is hardly easy.
On the one hand, the at-the-tip-of-easy choice seems to be just that– easy. Right there. Quick fix. Enjoyable. Instant gratification.
But then your blessed conscience (or Jesus) enters stage left and complicates the whole situation.
We all know what we SHOULD do… but following through on it is a whole different ballgame.
Now, this post is not intended to be a guilt-inducing post. I mean, after all– we all need a donut and some snuggly couch time now and again. But the purpose of this post is to acknowledge that doing the right thing is hardly ever easy.
You’ve heard that saying “Anything worth doing doesn’t come easy.”
How true (and sometimes frustrating!) that is!
Making the “hard choice” is good for us in the long run– but sometimes it seems super lame in the moment.
Being a legit and genuine Christian is “hard-ly easy…” It requires dedication, sacrifice, grace (lots and lots of grace) and perseverance.
Heck, if it were easy, EVERYBODY would do it– and I wouldn’t need to be involved in ministry at all. But here’s the great news… Christ understands what it is like to make the tough choice.
Let’s look at the “hardly easy” choices that Christ made on our behalf. He chose to be obedient and leave His Father’s side to come to earth. He chose to go against the flow of the world, to stand up for what God instructed Him to do. He never wavered. Even in the garden, the night before He was captured to be crucified (on our behalf) He made the most difficult, sacrificial, non-easy choice of His earthly life. He said “God, I would really appreciate it if I didn’t have to go through with this. I really don’t want to hang on the cross, be briefly separated from you and die– but if that’s the bottom line choice you want me to make, it’s hardly an easy one… but I will do it because I love you and I love ALL your children.” (That’s my very loose paraphrase… 🙂 )
So He did. Christ made His choice. He was obedient to the Father, even though it cost Him His life. And it sure wasn’t easy. But if you ask Him… I guarantee He will say it was worth it.
Because He loves you THAT much. Just that thought alone should be encouragement enough for us to not only talk the Christian talk– but walk the Christian walk.
What choices do you struggle with the most? What do you think the hardest thing about being a genuine Christian is? What is most rewarding?
Jesus fully understands our struggles and choices. The choice to follow Him is hard-ly easy– but as hard as it seems, it sure is worth it!
Making the choice today for Him,
SGK
“You can enter God’s Kingdom only through the narrow gate. The highway to hell is broad, and its gate is wide for the many who choose that way. But the gateway to life is very narrow and the road is difficult, and only a few ever find it.” ~Matthew 7:13-14 NIV
