Overcoming Drudgery

Most Christians lead a treadmill life.

Step after step after step of living a life in which they can predict almost everything that will come their way.

Maybe you lead a treadmill sort of life.

The alarm rings. You roll out of bed. You spend a few minutes with God. Check. A brief exercise stint may follow. Check. Then you head out the door a granola bar in hand. Traffic is battled, people are tolerated, fights are avoided, lunch is eaten. Check. Minutes become hours until five o’clock rolls around. Then you’re back out the door heading for home. Check.

Tuesday night? Bible Study.

Wednesday night? American Idol.

Friday night? Dinner with the family.

And on and on and on.

I’m not belittling your days. I get caught in the same cycle. As long as I plan on it, it doesn’t matter what happens. You can throw in a wrench or two, but don’t overdo it.

I may trip. Or worse, I may even fall.

Days turn into years while we become more and more anemic until only a skeleton of who we are remains. Is this what Jesus died for, we wonder? Is this all there is? Will life ever be anything more?

Jesus told two of his disciples in Matthew 19:19 “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men”. The following verse says that they immediately left their nets and followed him.

Everything changed in the blink of an eye.

Gone the life of comfort and ease. Gone the sense of security and routine. Gone the knowledge of exactly what was to come.

When God bids us follow Him, He calls us to a life of unpredictable-ness and risk. He calls us to hold on to Him while He becomes our only sense of security.

Sometimes that involves seasons of isolation while we adjust to hearing His voice. Sometimes that involves seasons of loss while He becomes the one we hold on to. Sometimes that involves seasons of change while He turns into our only expectation. Sometimes that involves seasons of pain while His presence brings healing.

But always that involves seasons of joy as we seek to live for Him and Him alone.

Get rid of the treadmill. It may protect you from the storm. But in the process you may shrivel into a shadow of who you were meant to be.

Live the life God meant for you to live.

Follow Him. Completely. Dangerously.

No turning back.

No turning back.

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