It's Christ You Really Want: David Stephens

I imagine the prospect of living with God in heaven for all of eternity and avoiding the flames of hell played somewhat in your decision to receive Christ. Or if you became a Christian later in life, maybe you were driven to your decision more by how to avoid the daily hell that you had lived in for so long.

In either case, once you invited Christ into your life, regardless of how you act--through the ups-and-downs of a rollercoaster ride full of right and wrong decisions--you now go by a new name: Christian. You are a child of Christ, and nothing can change that.

But I've discovered over the years that at least in the here-and-now, having sealed my eternal security is not enough. I don't just want a Christian life that I can one day look forward to in heaven; I want a Christian life that I can look forward to when I wake-up in the morning.

When I read the commandments given to us in the bible, the thought of obeying them all sometimes overwhelms me. How can a person possibly keep all of those?

Life is more difficult for the Christian who relies on self-effort. The thought that in my own strength I have to love my neighbor as I love myself makes me want to throw my hands up in surrender.

But I guess "surrender" was the plan all along. Back in the days of Jesus, the Pharisees believed they could actually keep the Law. Jesus put the prospect of keeping the Law so far out of reach, that only someone out of this world would even consider trying.

Of course, that's exactly what the "not-from-this-world" Jesus did--He kept and obeyed every last one of them.

Here's something you may not have realized. Obedience is not something you do to make God happy; obedience is something you do to make YOU happy. Your life proves this statement each time you choose to live "anti-God" and go at life in your own way. You end up living in misery. But when you choose to follow the commands God has laid out, you experience happiness and joy.