What are you living for?

Ask any Christian the above question and the response is “Christ”.  That is the right answer, but is it the truthful answer?  I mean seriously, how many Christians are really, truly, completely and whole-heartedly living for Christ?  90% of the Christians reading this know what I mean, you can feel it deep down inside of you.  The other 10% are either living for Christ whole-heartedly, or have their hearts hardened against accepting this feeling.  Which is it?

Why do you get up and go to work each day?  Do you go to work so that you can pay the bills?  Do you dream of being a millionaire?  Are you doing it so that one day you can retire and relax in the knowledge that you will be well-cared for in your old age?  Or do you work simply to provide for your basic living expenses, with no wants for a bigger house, a better car, a holiday somewhere luxurious?  You know that the Bible says that you can’t take it with you….

"But God said to him, 'You fool! You will die this very night. Then who will get everything you worked for?' – Luke 12:20

What do you look forward to in life?  And I mean really look forward to.  Is it the next party?  Is it the next sports match?  Is it the next Twilight movie?  Is it the next holiday?  Are you living for the next pleasurable fix?  Sure, you have enjoyed life to the full, but how does the earthly pleasure you strived so hard for affect your life in heaven?  Have your earthly pleasures become idols in your life?

Why do you get out of bed in the morning?  Because you have to?  Just to get through the day to move onto the next day?  Are you living a life where you are just going through the motions?  Not striving for anything?  Just going with the flow… day after day after day?  Are you living just to live?

Are you living for fame?  Do you crave to see your face on the cover of People magazine?  Are you living to get your twitter followers over the 1000 mark?  Are you striving to be the name on everyone’s lips, respected and admired by all who encounter you?  Do you know who Paul Morphy is?  He is apparently the Greatest Chess Player of all time (so says a website I visited).  He was born in 1837 and died in 1884.  I can imagine he was quite famous in his day… fame dwindles, in a couple of hundred years who will have heard of Marilyn Monroe?

What about power?  Are you living to command hundreds of people?  To be a mayor, a senator, the president?  What is your motive behind this craving?  With great power comes great responsibility and you need a solid grounding to succeed at the job…

Here is a good one, are you living for revenge?  Do you live to see the downfall of others?  To play with people and manipulate them because you cannot stand them being so happy?

Are you happiest when you are unhappy?  This is going to sound really weird, but do you live to moan and mope around complaining all the time about how “Sucky” your life is?

Are you living to please other people?  Who better to please than to please God?

Lastly, and this is the biggest one… Are you living for knowledge?  Are you studying and gaining knowledge?  Is your goal to become the expert in your field?  How can even a shred more knowledge get you into heaven?  I know a very simple woman.  She is quite slow when it comes to technology.  She never graduated from High School.  She never studied any further after her limited High School career.  She married young and raised her children.  She is an old woman now and I can honestly say I have never met a more loving and giving lady.  She ALWAYS means well in everything she does.  She has a very simple faith, but it is faith all the same and God has protected her from harm throughout her life.  I’m not saying you shouldn’t study if God gave you the brain for it, what I am saying is that it shouldn’t become more important than God.

So what happens when you finally attain that which you are striving for?  How many millionaires are happy with their millions? How many people are finally partied out?  How many famous people wish they would be left alone for one weekend?  How many powerful people are faced with tough decisions and wished it wasn’t their responsibility to make the choice?  How many people get burnt in their old age with no friends after chasing them all away?  How many people actually notice for more than a day what you have sacrificed to please them?  And how many extremely knowledgeable people get Alzheimer’s disease in their old age?

So here is the question again.  What are you living for?