Impact Church

So I have had this weird habit lately.  It is night-time, an hour or so after dinner and I crave a Coke.  This is new to me, I normally am not a sugar-laced beverage kind of guy, but something is changing in my taste buds as I race toward pre-middle age.

But the problem is: I can’t have a Coke.  I’m on a strict no sugar diet.  I could reach for a diet Coke (gross enough) but I can’t have a diet Coke because I want to sleep in a couple of hours and the caffeine will keep me up all night (another pre-middle aged indicator).  So I settle for a Caffeine-free diet Coke.  The can is so cold, it has a shimmery label reminiscent of the “Real Thing” and my mouth waits in anticipation of this pseudo indulgence.  It takes merely one swig however to bring my fantasy to a stretching halt.  This is gross.  I can never finish the can and it leaves me feeling worse than I did before I cracked the can open.

You see, it has all of the trappings of the “Real Thing” but it is a striped down version devoid of the two things a carbonated beverage requires: sugar and caffeine.  It merely leaves me wanting the real deal more desperately.

Do you see similarities to the Christian life?  Jesus calls us to a life in love with Him that is nothing less than complete devotion.  It seems as though He never called anyone to follow Him without first making sure they knew what the cost would be…it was an all or nothing proposition.

In Luke 9:62 Jesus replied to someone who wanted to put following Him one hundred percent on hold, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.” 

Jesus desires that you find abundant and vibrant life in Him.  But this is only possible if you make Him your true leader and guide and follow Him with seemingly reckless abandon.  Have you felt disappointed?  As though the brand of Christianity you’ve been pursuing isn’t the “Real Deal”?  Here’s a solution: stop settling for partial Christianity (that’s an oxymoron btw).  Like my caffeine-free diet coke, it will never quench the thirst your soul is striving for.  Stop settling for anything less than the fullest Christ-centered life!

You need to follow the real Jesus to make it through this life.  Will you fall in love with Him?  Will you allow Him to lead you?  If you do, you will never settle for anything less again.