Thorns & Roses: Christ Will Enrich YOUR Life

I think the biggest problem with Christianity today is that people think if they become a Christian their life will be enriched. God will bless them. They will love their neighbors. They will go to church every Sunday and praise the Lord, and everything will be wonderful. Unfortunately I think many have been led astray to what Christianity is really about. While all the above is true it doesn't mean you will have no hardships and no worries. As a Christian your life's purpose is not to enrich your life, though if it will if you follow the Word, but it is to further the Kingdom of God.

Paul explains this very well in Romans 12. He starts off the chapter by, basically, begging Christians to understand that we are suppose to be a "living sacrifice" to God, for His will. This is a very important piece of Scripture and I don't think many truly understand what he saying. He's trying to make us understand that being a Christian is not about us and what we want. It's about Christ. We're suppose to lay down our lives as a living sacrifice. The significance of those two words is so powerful.

SAC'RIFICE, v.t. sac'rifize.
To destroy, surrender or suffer to be lost for the sake of obtaining something; as, to sacrifice the peace of the church to a little vain curiosity. We should never sacrifice health to pleasure, nor integrity to fame.

The meaning of sacrifice is to destroy or suffer, and that is why it's important to understand that when you become a Christian you are giving your life to Christ as a living sacrifice. Christ never said that the life of a Christian would be easy. Just looking at His life we can see that. He was persecuted, hated, and crucified for what He taught, and whether it's Spiritually, emotionally, or physically, at times we will be persecuted and we will have times that we are suffering for Christ.

However, we have His assurance that He will always be there with us. He knows our sufferings and our pains. He has already suffered them for us.

The reason so many people fall away from Christ and the life of a Christian is because Christianity is misrepresented. When the realization that being a Christian means your life will not always be easy and you will have to give up your fleshly desires to be holy people tend to turn a deaf ear or a blind eye.

The second verse in Romans, chapter 12, Paul goes onto say that we should not be conformed to this world. Instead, we must be transformed, everyday, by the renewing of our minds with the Word. This means we need to strengthen, not only our minds, but our spirits with the Word so we may prove what is "good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God".

We're not here to prove anything to the world or to ourselves, only to Him. Everyday we should be renewing our minds and transforming into the person God wants us to be by reading His Word and through prayer. Jesus spent many hours a day in prayer, renewing his spirit for the times to come, and he knew how important it is.

Satan is roaming about like a lion seeking those who he may devour (1 Peter 5:8). He is looking for ways to cause you to stumble, for you to shake your fist angrily at God, and to turn away from the faith. He is deceiving the world into thinking that Christianity is all about you, instead of Christ, and that is why so many Christians no longer have a Biblical-worldview or fall away.

The next verse, verse three, in Romans 12 Paul encourages us not to think highly of ourselves, but to think "soberly", and assures us that God deals with each and every man according to his measure of Faith. We must hold strong to Christ, who is our rock, and offer our bodies as living sacrifices to him. Our earthly bodies shall pass away, but our souls will live on forever. I don't know about you, but I'm willing to enrich and further the Kingdom of God on this earth to earn the crown of Righteous in heaven. What is your measure and span of your faith? Are you willing to truly lay down your body as a living sacrifice to God?