What does my life mean? Has it been worth it? What will happen at the end? Has all the work I've done really amounted to anything?
Am I happy?
Life's joys smash into a depressing brick wall when questions like these begin to plague our minds. It's easy to escape temporarily -- through hard work, entertainment, or even good works done in the name of God -- but the questions still remain. "Do I really matter, and am I happy about my life?"
There is something we can hold on to, something that we should consider when those "mid-life crisis" questions start haunting our sub-conscious. We find it nestled amidst some of the most familiar words of our Lord. In Mark 8:35-36 He explains:
"Whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?" (NIV)
Could it be that the answer to our heart-wonderings isn't that new bass boat or bigger house, that luxurious vacation or new career? Could the answer have more to do with losing than it does with gaining?
What if that ultimate feeling of fulfillment, contentment, and satisfaction is reserved for those willing to take up their cross and follow Christ?
There is nothing of this earth that can fill the emptiness we feel, or satisfy the cravings of our restless souls. It is a void that only eternal life can fill, a thirst that only Christ's abundant life can quench.
Have you experienced the mid-life crosses, that time when you lay yourself upon His altar afresh, offering up your life, your ambitions, your dreams, and your comforts in order to follow Him?
Challenge: How could I make the most effective use of the remaining time God has given me on earth? What would it mean for me to joyfully take up His cross?
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