What If

Let's play a game called "What if...would we?" The first part is this: What if after our physical bodies died, that was it? I don't mean the atheist version of it, but rather where everything about Christianity remains true, except for any kind of life after death. So what if that was true -- would we still desire to know, love, and serve God? Would we still want to present our lives as a sacrifice to God? Would we still want to be set apart? Would we still desire the things of the Spirit over the things of this world?

That sounds like a tough question.

It has a problem in it at the get-go -- do we who know Christ really want all those things anyway, knowing the wonderful promise of eternal life? Though I would argue that if we don't want all those things now, then we don't really know Christ, or at the very least, we don't know him well. I would argue that if we don't want to give our lives in service to Christ now, then we, or the devil, are just telling us what we want to hear to make ourselves feel better. Maybe that makes us in-name-only Christians. Maybe that makes us lukewarm Christians. Neither is what we could, or should, be.

So we move forward with the assumption that we're genuinely in Christ for the purpose of answering the question.

I know the obvious answer is supposed to be "Yes, of course!" But after thinking about it for a short while the other day, I think my answer to that question at the time was "I don't know." Looking back I see that Satan was throwing a fair number of darts my way that day, because here's where my mind went: So what do you get out of it then? You spend a great deal more of your time focusing on other people and things of the Spirit, and then you're dead and gone. Why bother? Why not just live it up and have as much fun as you can before you're dead?

Then I put the question aside for a while until tonight.

What a stupid line of thinking going through my head. Thank God for the shield of faith.

Our creator gave us so much, including our lives. That alone makes him worthy of praise and worship. He loves us so much that sent his son to die on the cross to pay for our sins and free us from terrible bondage. Faith in his son allows us to live in the presence of God forever. There is nothing greater for us. But, really, even if this life was it, we still gain much through faith in Christ. I can testify to changes in my own heart and life that came through faith in Christ, but really I don't think anything sums it up better than these words of our Lord: "These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full." (John 15:11)

So if we really think we would not bother with Jesus if there was no promise of eternal life, we need to ask the following about our relationship with God knowing that there IS a promise of eternal life: Is God really first in our lives now? Do we really love Christ, or do we love sin? Do we really want to serve our Lord more than we want to serve ourselves through fulfilling worldly and sinful desires?

It's just a "what if", but its still food for thought, I think. I had a bite either way.

Grace and Peace