Some Serious Questions and Choices to Be Made About Our Lifestyle
As Christians, we are taught that Christ is our light, and we are to be reflectors of His light to the world. Ours is a world though that hides from the light, only to stumble around in the confusion of darkness.
“In him [Christ] was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.” (John 1: 4-5)
Asking Serious Questions
But how deep a hole do we have to find ourselves in before the light no longer penetrates? How can we get to a point where we can be guided by it, to absorb its life-giving power and to reflect it to those around us?These types of existential questions are nothing new though. I suspect they are as ancient as the fall of humanity. They are, however, questions we need to confront as Christians before the darkness that infuses our minds consumes the healthy grey matter. Take for example the words of the Sons of Korah:
“Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my saviour and my God.” (Psalm 42:11)
The world in which many of us live, high-paced and corporately driven, is unapologetically non-conducive to the way Christ teaches us to live. His goal is a life eternally connected with our Creator. Is it no wonder mental health is such an overwhelming and growing problem impacting directly or indirectly possibly anyone we meet, including the person in the mirror?
Making Choices
Most people on their journey through life have questioned how they have somehow arrived at this unforeseen and possibly unbearable destination that is the present. We wish we could only wind back the hands of time and correct the irreversible consequences of our naïve choices. The hole we find ourselves in may not be our intended situation but, nevertheless, the machine that is Western society more often than not holds us tight in its grip.As we attend church services on Sunday mornings, we are often challenged about the way we live and how much time we dedicate to God. However, any glint of enthusiasm to change our ways is often snuffed out before we even leave the carpark. The worries of this world, of this life, seem to have us by the scruff. It’s as though every time we try and fill some of our hole with a shovel full of soil, the world sends in a high-powered digging machine to take us deeper.
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Karl Barth in his commentary, The Epistle to the Romans, puts it this way: “Bereft of understanding and left to themselves, men are at the mercy of the dominion of the meaningless powers of the world; for our life in this world has meaning only in its relation to the true God.”
One Way Out
There is only one ultimate way out of this dilemma; one way to bring light back into our lives and to start living for the purpose we were created for. Something must be sacrificed. Time, wealth, possessions, popularity, all of those potential idols that the world assures us make the person. How can we possibly seek to spend time with God, listening to his voice and leaning on his truth, if all of our time is spent chasing the things that are here today and gone tomorrow?
“And I saw that all labor and all achievement spring from man’s envy of his neighbor. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.” (Ecclesiastes 4:4)
Deep down humanity craves meaning and that meaning, if we openly receive it, has been revealed to us in Christ. We must open our eyes and minds to the light that shines through what Christ has to say. We can’t do this if we continue to let the world deepen our hole, filling it with all-consuming darkness.
The Comfort He Gives
When the darkness in our lives impacts our grey matter and even our soul’s core, the load can seem too much to bear. Christ knows this all too well. But He, unlike the gods we strive to measure up to, reaches out to us. He reaches out to us with words of everlasting comfort. Words that cannot be found to exist outside of his Grace. This is the comfort that can only be offered by a God. He knows us intimately because he created us with love and purpose in mind.
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11: 28-30)
These are words to cling to; words that shine light into the dark holes in which we often reside. Let them bring meaning to your life in a way that nothing else can. In the end, a life rooted in Christ is the only real life. When we live out of tune with our Father’s song, we should not be surprised by the impact that darkness can have. The impact between darkness and light has on the wellness of our souls is huge.