Living or Dying?

"To live is Christ and to die is gain."  (Philippians 1:21) Can we truly say this, and mean it? Close your eyes and focus your attention on God, and ask yourself, "is this what my heart says?’To live is Christ and to die is gain'?" If we are honest, most of us would say no. Let's break down this verse. What Paul is saying is that if I go on living, it will be for Christ. I will spread his name; I will show people his love. If I die, I gain the glorious gift of heaven and the presence of my Almighty God. It is a win-win situation for us as Christians! But do we look at it this way? I think the reason some of us do not feel like they could state this verse with no hesitation is because we have too many earthly things hindering us. We value the things and even people in this world too much. Christians, I do not think we realize how radically God has called us to live. Let's look at Luke 14:26-27.
If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters—yes, even his own life—he cannot be my disciple. And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.
Okay, so let's not sugar coat this passage. Let's look at the stark truth of this. Jesus says to hate your father, mother, children, brothers, sisters, and his own life! Wow, now that is intense living. Can we say that we hate our family and friends and even our own life compared to the passion we have for following Christ? Jesus clearly says if not, you cannot be my disciple. He does not stop there though; he goes on to say we must carry our cross to be a disciple. Who in their right mind would want to hate everyone and their life, and carry a huge cross? Sounds pretty crazy, huh? Guess what? We are called to do this! Our life is a complete LOSS for the sake of Christ.
Too many times, in our fleshly eyes, we desire the world's pleasures instead of the pleasures of picking up our cross. Too many times we tweet a bible verse instead of meditating on scripture. Too many times we tell someone we are praying for them instead of spending hours in your prayer closet. Too many times we talk about how lost someone is, instead of weeping over the reality that they are going to burn in hell for eternity. Too many times we complain about someone not coming to church, when we are not showing them the love of Jesus in the first place. Guys, what are we doing? Our faith is shallow. We need to take a look at our spiritual lives. Are you truly seeking God? Are you daily soaking up the Word? Are you praying and fasting? Or are you just going through the motions; go to church, tweet a bible verse, pray at church, go on church trips. Don’t get me wrong, all those things are awesome, but that is not the type of devotion God has called us to.  Let's get real. Can you honestly say that you are being a disciple of Jesus Christ like he is describing in these verses above? Because if not, he says "he cannot be my disciple."  

Radically following,

Hannah