"...I worry that you're missing out on so much." He continued.
"Missing out?" I replied, "I love my life! Theres nothing else I could even fit in to my life right now, and I'm happy."
He proceeded to tell me that by saying "I love my life", I was probably masking an emptiness that I didn't want to admit. When I asked him to explain himself, here's what he told me:
"You're so focused on God, and faith, and your standards, I just really worry that you're missing out on the real things of life!"
"What could I possibly be missing?"
"Romance, for one."
"Oh, so I'm missing out on romance because I can have fun AND still remember what I did on Friday?"
This same friend has argued with me for some time over my faith, always trying to prove to me that I'm close minded or that I'm not as smart as I think I am because I "settle" for God.
Time and time again, the world insists to us that we're missing out on life because we set standards, because we choose to live our lives for Christ instead of for our own fleshly desires. Is it really so hard to believe that we're at peace, that we're happy in these times of chaos, without chalking it up to blind faith?
So many people view religion as a rulebook that fences you in from experiencing all that life has to offer. But saying that following Christ is holding you back is like saying that the railroad crossing barriers are holding you back from experiencing all that railroads have to offer, or that the warning sign on an electric fence is preventing you from enjoying the true essence of electricity.
"All who came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly." (John 10:8-10)
He came and gave us life. Not a life bound by rules and regulations, guarded with legality. But a life of freedom, a life abundant!
"It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery." (Galatians 5:1)
My life is a life of freedom and joy in Christ. I don't feel held back because I'm not out living carelessly, I am free because I know my future is secure in Him!
