Life is in Christ

Life is intricately and intimately linked with Jesus.  In fact, Jesus is life--He said so Himself.  So when we look for life worth living, we must look for it not in happy or heartbreaking circumstances, health, or even relationships.  Life is in Christ.

In Amos 5:4, the Lord spoke to Israel and said "Seek Me and live."  The Lord's people could find life only by seeking Him, not by performing the prescribed ritual at traditional religious sites such as Bethel and Gilgal.  Those cities had become centers for idolatry.  As I look at the world around me today, it's just one big center for idolatry.  We may not be worshiping carved images, but we make many things and people more important than God.  Our spouses, children, friends, jobs, houses, cars, clothing styles, popularity, and desires become our ultimate treasure.  Matthew 6:19 says, "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.  For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."  So if Jesus is our treasure and He is our life, it should not matter if the earth falls a part around us because it is not our life.  Should we lose a loved one, lose a job, or lose material things, all is not lost because that is not where our hope should come from.  Yes, our hearts will be sad when we lose people and things important to us, but we should keep to the path and purpose God has called us to.  Not all days will be happy ones, but there is the promise of joy in all of them.  And Joy comes from the Lord, and there is nothing that can separate us from our Lord.  Romans 8:38-39 says, "For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."  Many Christians need to stop walking around acting all defeated because if they have been called to salvation and accepted Jesus as their Lord and Savior then they can hold to Jesus' promise in John 10:10 when he said, "I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly."  I'm ok with whatever happens today or tomorrow because my life is in Christ.  I will seek Him and live.