-to die is gain. to die is gain. again, to die is gain. the average pagan or materialist has it in mind that this life is all there is, all that matters. death therefore becomes for these the ultimate tragedy because all that is good and enjoyable in existence is lost when life comes to an end. death is not gain - it is total loss. and to be sure, the one who lives for this life will indeed lose it all when they die. not only do you leave it all behind, but the reality is that those things never fill the God-shaped hole in your heart anyway. so you die both empty-handed and unsatisfied. however, the one who lives for and sets their hope on Christ in this life will, when they die, receive that which far surpasses and long outlasts any passing pleasure to be found in this world.
-so first, to be living is Christ. to be alive is Christ. it is all about Jesus - living for Him, living thru Him, Christ living thru me (cf Galatians 2.20). Life = Christ. He is the Destination and the Way to get there. He is both the Means and the End. He is the Reason for living and is Life itself. yes, to be living is Jesus, living for Him, living in Him, living thru Him, Jesus alive in me - more of Him and less of me. again, He must be increasing and I must be decreasing. we are enjoying Him more and more (and more than anything else), we are reflecting Him more and we are serving Him (and others for His sake) more (such that others see more of Him and less of Me). we talk to Him. we talk about Him - we can’t not talk about Him. we are consumed, focused, devoted, deliberate and intentional. we are obsessed: our mind is filled and we are preoccupied continually, intrusively, and to a troubling extent. if to be living is Christ, then Christ is indeed an all-consuming obsession. it was for paul at least.
-think about it - put anything else in that place and what do you get? to live is ______. what if for someone it is, to live is ‘the dallas cowboys’? to live is ‘food’? to live is ‘sports’? to live is ‘video games’? to live is ‘my career’? to live is 'my temporal cause'? to live is ‘pleasure’? to live is ‘a relationship’? to live is ‘how i look’? put anything else in there and you get someone who is similarly obsessed but is unsatisfied or selfish and quite possibly both.
-to be sure, most of us who follow Christ are nowhere close to being obsessed. we’re not even in the same hemisphere. He is at best our faithful pastime, a hobby, an activity we choose to engage in regularly for pleasure rather than work. but work, which is more of an obligation, something we have to do in order to survive and which we sometimes enjoy - sadly, for many, Christ is work, an activity requiring physical or mental effort done in order to achieve a purpose or result. in which case He IS a means to an end, but it is our end which we have in mind. He is not the end, rather it is about our ‘fire insurance’.
-most of us are not obsessed with anything. we are... 'balanced'. which means we are essentially average (mediocre?) in most things. but that likely means we are rather lukewarm. we are the church of laodicea. how does Christ put it? ‘I wish that you were cold or hot, but because you are lukewarm, I will spit you out of My mouth.’ (revelation 3.15-19). those folks were prosperous, and were not in a place of need, much like many of us who follow Christ in the west. surely obsession is in part driven by desparate need, by the severe lack of something. obsession with Christ is driven by a need for Christ - i want Christ, and i NEED Him, desperately. Christ’s word to the laodiceans was to be zealous (hot) and to change their mind about what was really important in life, what they wanted and needed. be hot. be obsessed. for my part, i have a long, long way to go.
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