Well it is Friday, another week is almost finished. If you are like most people there is still probably work on your desk, or in/at your home, that has been there from Monday or before. Oh well, that is the life that most of us have chosen for ourselves. This overextended hurried life is the price of having the freedom to choose what you do. When you have the right to choose what you do, there is also the responsibility to live with the consciences of those choices. If you have work that is not getting done it is most likely because you have chosen to do other things, most of them more enjoyable then the task you have chosen to let slide.
Even if we are working on things that we enjoy, there are many times that we choose to work on a lot of small problems or tasks early in a week. The big things can wait as they will take too long or be to complex for the time or commitment that we have at the moment. What we find though is that these small tasks many times consume far more time then we expected. These small tasks bloom into complex jobs that have unforseen delays and problems. When this occurs, we are where most of us are at the moment - at the end of the week with few or none of the large issues we started the week with resolved. That is one of the prices for having the freedom to choose what you do and when you do it.
Unfortunately, many of us want the freedom of choice, but we also want the freedom from taking the responsibility of our choices as well. That is not to say that we all do not need help sometimes, or that all that happens to us is completely due to our own decisions, but many times our situation is a result of our own decisions and the consciences of those decisions can be different then we would wish for many times. With freedom comes responsibility was how I heard it put when I was in school. When you get the freedom to pay your own way (i.e not at home) then you can act however you want. When you get that freedom you also get the responsibility of having to pay for all that you choose to do. There is no one else that is responsible for that other then you. Many times we forget, or want to forget, that as individuals.
To many times we as Christians also forget that it was our choice to follow God. God did not force us to follow Him. In fact, one of His greatest examples of love is the fact that He does not force us to follow Him. He gives us a choice. Sure any semi intelligent person would choose eternal life in heaven over a eternity in hell, but many people miss the fact that they did make a decision to follow Christ. We were not forced to become God’s child. God loved us enough to adopt us, but He respected us enough not to force us to follow Him. What a amazing thing.
Unfortunately, after many decide to follow Christ, they begin to complain about the consciences of their decision. They do not like the social ostracism from former friends / buddies / neighbors or family. The complaining Christian does not like the call to live for others before themselves. They do not want to patiently mature, they yearn for quick solutions and religiosity above real faith. After all of this, they wonder why their walk is not fruitful, their lives are stressful, and their path is full of obstacles.
God never promised us a obstacle free life, just that He would never leave us and that with Him we could conquer all the obstacles that come our way. The choice to follow Christ should not be one made with little thought, or one that is simply decided on a moments emotion. It is a permanent, and sobering change that will compel all that make it to be radically different then they were before.
When we decided to follow Christ we got the benefits of salvation, spiritual guidance, direction, peace, and purpose, but we also get the responsibility that comes with being a Christian. That means we now have a standard to live by, a lifestyle pattern to follow, and some major adjustments in priorities if we are to earnestly follow Him. We can not receive Christ and still live for self. That is a possibility that can and does not exist. We must decide to either follow God or rebel against Him, but we can not do both or neither. Then, once that choice is made we must live with the consciences of it.
Come judgement day, lost people will yearn to have the ability to not have to live with the consciences of their choice, yet it will be to late then. In the same respect all that follow after Christ will rejoice in the consciences of their decision. So, the real question is not will the long term consciences of following Christ be better or worse then rebelling, obviously they are better. The real question is if we are willing to accept the consciences for our decision while we are here on earth. Any earthly consciences of following Christ are short term when compared to eternity. We as humans do not always realize that. We want to be both saved and free to self at the same time and that is not possible.
So, as Christians is not just enough to accept the free love of Christ, but we must also accept the responsibilities and duties that come with our decision to follow Him. You personally may know that. The question however is how do you live it out? Team Swap just wants to encourage you to continue remaining vigilant to your call to both accept the rewards and consciences of a walk with Christ. Your life recently may or may not have done a great job of doing this, and if it has then we encourage you to continue that trend. Never fail to encourage others to step up and accept the consciences of their decision to follow Christ as well. In the end, the rewards far out way any consciences that arise here on earth.
