The majority of people are not living life, they are content simply to be alive. The menial tasks they perform each day are not seen as such but are the necessary requirements to the continuation of what they consider a fulfilled existence. The saved who will not advance in their walk with the Lord use Colossians 3:23 as their reasoning, “And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men;” yet that everything is really nothing more than the continuation of sameness.
There are perhaps growth spurts, moments in time when they actually hear the prompting of the Holy Spirit, and apply, at least in part the Word of God into their lives, but they are rare, and within a short time the repetition of just existing within the confines of the supposed needs of their world begins to become the norm once again. At best the experiences of life are sought after, the “out of the ordinary” is anticipated, birthdays, holidays, vacations and visits from relatives and friends, but a closer, more personal relationship with the Lord Jesus is not the path they have chosen.
These individuals may indeed have their set times for devotional reading, perhaps even extracurricular activities for the church they attend, but God Himself is not contemplated by them, their minds do not hover around the throne of God, hoping for a closer glimpse of Him, their hearts do not pant after Him as the hart does in the dry and thirsty land. (Psalm 42:1) They indeed will call upon Him when trials and tribulations appear, looking to Him as a means to escape what He Himself has sent into their lives for His glory, and that they might draw closer to Him, but for the majority of their lives that is all they want, the continuation of a life with no inconvenience, the repetition of sameness.
To search for Jesus Christ means to plunge into the darkness of the unknown, it requires on our part to leave everyone and everything we love, even if they remain in our presence, it means a sanctified, set apart life from all save for Him. To follow Jesus Christ means to leave all, to forsake all, to see all of our past accomplishments as dung, (Phil. 3:8) and to begin to live life only for His glory. It is death to self, and one cannot partially die.
I believe that many who have been born-again want this relationship with Him, but they will not sacrifice the life they know for the one that has been promised, and it is not only because the world still calls them, it is because they answer that call. The menial, repetitive tasks that they call being good stewards of stop being pleasing to the Lord when they become just that, the life they say is their service to Christ. Church attendance becomes a routine, devotional studies are done only at the “set times,” reading of the Scriptures is hurried through in-between the desires of self, when there is nothing on the television that evening. Idle hands are not the work of the devil, busy hands are, and busy work is all that what many who profess Christ get done in their daily walk with Him. Many of these individuals may indeed be saved, but they have found a spot on the path to the kingdom of God that they find comfortable, one that allows them to serve in part to the Lord Jesus, and still serve themselves, the desires of the flesh and the world they have found, at least in part, a comfortable existence in. They call it life, but it is not living, much less living a life devoted to Christ Jesus. They still do what they want to do, albeit modified in type, and continue to call themselves born-again.
