TODAY’S MEDITATION – Is it difficult to be a Christian today? (Colossians 3:2)

Many believers, and especially young people find it hard to be a Christian today. My brother, my sister, everything you reject, refuse to embrace fully or choose to ignore would always seem difficult for you. If you are in a job that you don’t like or that you do without putting all your heart, the job will become difficult to do. If you look at the distance you have to walk to get to a place, you could not even get out of your house, etc.

Christianity is not a religion, but men have turned it into a religion, thus making it look difficult to become a Christian or to adapt to it. Today, the evolution of transportation means has enabled people to immigrate around the world. And most of the time, this requires a time of preparation, then a time of adaptation that can take years and years. Becoming a Christian is exactly the same: we leave the world (like we would leave a country) to start living with Christ in order to one day be able to get to the Kingdom of God, for He is the only true way to God. Since Christ knows the Kingdom and the way to the Kingdom, He can clearly show us the tricks or traps to avoid. Ask anybody who left their country to start off in another country if it was an easy journey: sometimes, they had to adapt to a new culture, new people, a different weather, a new language, new rules and principles. For example in my neighborhood, the council had to establish a law to punish people spitting betel nut (or pan) on the sidewalk and near my house there’s a street where a poster forbids people to walk on the street drunk or face a fine or arrest. Who could tell whether or not these laws are good? Still, the council decided to put them up where another council could not do it. It’s the same for the Kingdom of God: it has its principles and rules!

My friend, all this is to say that Christianity is not more difficult than anything you have had to adapt to in the society you live in. Now, depending on where your priorities are and where your eyes are set, it could become difficult. If you contemplate the things of the world more than the things above, your heart will always feel sad or regretful and you may feel the weight of whatever the Word of God is asking you to do. Reversely, if your eyes are set on things above, the Holy Spirit who dwells on you will strengthen you in times of weaknesses and Jesus Himself will carry your burdens. So, we understand why today’s passage says: “Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth” (Colossians 3:2).

Yes, being a Christian is migrating from the world to the Kingdom of God, and learning to adapt to its rules and principles. The difficulty you may find are not coming from your migration (decision to accept Christ) because you came by invitation (calling)… the difficulty comes from the fact that you may physically be in Christ but your heart has not migrated yet, it is still more attached to the world than to the Kingdom… Food for thoughts! Make the right decision to “love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind” (Matthew 22:37). Stay blessed in Jesus’ name.