“Dear brothers and sisters, we can’t help but thank God for you, because your faith is flourishing and your love for one another is growing.” (2 Thessalonians 1:3 NLT)
Though I’ve never purchased a First-Class ticket to fly, because my daughter’s jobs have taken her all over the world, she has accumulated a lot of air miles and has, on occasion, blessed me with First-Class tickets to come to see her.
The first time that happened I was oblivious to what it meant. I thought it just meant I got to board earlier and sit closer to the front. I was used to sitting in my seat, however far back, watching a movie on my iPad or sleeping. I didn’t know about meals, free in-flight options and other amenities that First Class afforded me. Now that I’ve learned about the benefits of flying First Class, I’ll be able to take advantage of them.
It occurred to me that a lot of people who profess a relationship with the Lord live way below their means when it comes to being a child of God. We too often want to treat our walk with God like a ticket to an event or ride on an airplane. “Well, I have my ticket, I’ll just stick it in the drawer and wait until I need it.” Then we go about our life as though nothing of real significance has changed.
But if you think about it, that’s like going through a marriage ceremony, kissing the bride, then saying, “That was fun. Let’s connect again real soon and grab a cup of coffee or something.” Marriage is a life-long commitment that not only requires of us obligations, but it also opens the door for limitless privileges reserved only for the two of us.
Marriage is unique in that it includes only one man, and one woman committed to one another for life. Yes, of course, it has similarities to other marriages, but because it involves two very unique individuals, there are elements of each marriage that are different yet, in some ways, treasured. Whether we discover those treasures is up to us.
It’s like that in our relationship with the Lord. There are treasures to be discovered in our walk with God that so enrich our lives we’re literally never the same; however, these treasures are often hidden and are not obvious to the casual observer.
We tend to treat our commitment to Christ like our commitment to our mortgage lender. We make our monthly “payments” by attending church and giving “our” money, then carry on our lives knowing we have made that commitment, but in the everyday scheme of things it has little or no effect or bearing on how we live. We “fly” coach when we have a First-Class ticket.
The riches of Christ are beyond measure, inexhaustible, yet we rarely ask Him for anything until our measly resources run out, because we believe we’re our own providers. “The Lord has given me resources with which to pay my bills, my health is good, I’m good to go. Thank You Jesus!”
What will it take for us to realize there’s more to life in Christ than living our lives, loving our families, and paying our bills. Forgive me, but millions of people do that every day without Him. We don’t need Jesus to survive, we need Jesus to thrive – not simply as a human being, but as a child of God!
There’s more here. Let’s look at this more closely in tomorrow’s post.
Blessings, Ed 😊
Walking With Jesus 
spot on
in the parable of sower many people are the seed sown in thorny ground. Hanging on to Jesus with one hand and their stuff with the other.
in fact their faces are often turned to their stuff rather than our Lord.
r
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