This post is written to link with Five Minute Friday: write for five minutes on a one-word prompt. The prompt today is “convenient.”
So much of life today seems to be geared towards convenience.
Instead of trailing round the supermarket for an hour, you can order online and have all your groceries delivered at a time that is convenient to you. Instead of waiting for a movie to be shown on television or going out and buying the DVD, you can stream it instantly without even moving from your sofa. Mobile phones and instant messaging mean making contact with people is much more convenient than it was in the past.
There’s nothing wrong with these things; in many ways things that make life easier and more convenient are good and there are many modern conveniences I wouldn’t want to do without.
I do worry though that we can become too accustomed to comfort and convenience and place too high a value on them, and I don’t think, as Christians, that these should be our top priorities.
When you look at the Bible, faithfulness to God rarely seems to lead to a life of convenience.
Abraham had to leave his home behind, travelling many miles to an unknown land God had promised.
Moses had to persevere with Pharaoh under difficult circumstances and then to spend forty years leading a grumbling, complaining group of people through the wilderness.
Esther had to set aside her comfort and convenience to approach the King to plead for her people.
Paul endured beatings, imprisonments, shipwrecks and countless other trials as he travelled, sharing the message about Christ.
And those are only a few examples among many.
Jesus certainly wasn’t thinking about comfort and convenience when he left the glory of heaven to be born as a man and then to suffer and die on the cross.
It challenges me that following in Jesus’ footsteps mean becoming a bit less concerned with convenience. After all, the call to follow him has never been the call to an easy life:
“Then, calling the crowd to join his disciples, he said, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross, and follow me. If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake and for the sake of the Good News, you will save it.” (Mark 8:34-5 NLT)
It’s challenging, but it’s also reassuring. It was never meant to be easy. When I’m tempted to retreat to a place of comfort and ease, this reminds me of the point of it all and calls me to step up once again in the midst of the challenges.
It might not be convenient… but it’s worth it!
SO GOOD. SO TRUE. SO TRUE.
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Thanks, Susan!
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We were just talking about this in Bible study this week. Saying yes to Jesus is no guarantee of safety and a prayer for faithfulness will likely lead us to discomfort (and inconvenience). Thanks for your good words. FMF14
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Thanks! It is definitely not a guarantee of an easy life but it is still the best choice!
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Thank you for this post, Jesus was inconvenienced so many times, yet we get upset when we are.
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Yes, Jesus definitely didn’t cling to his own comfort and convenience. It’s a challenge to follow his example!
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So good… It is true, there is nothing technically wrong with convenience and an ease to things… We are the problem. We grow comfortable there, and then no longer want (or know how) to persevere. In many ways the condition of Mental health and suicide in the world is evidence of this. If we can’t find a pill that helps right now, it feels overwhelming and hopeless.
God rested… But not 7 days a week.
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I agree, I think culture gives us the idea that life should be happy and easy all the time which is just not realistic.
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Wonderful post! I wonder why we don’t hear more sermons on Mark 8:34-35? Hm… Blessings on your weekend!
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Thanks, Vicki! It’s maybe not a popular message but it’s one we need to hear! Hope you have a great weekend too!
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Beautiful post, and so true!
There’s one thing you can’t get online
and that is salvation.
Accepting Christ, and now’s the time
to avoid Hell’s ablation.
The flames are there, be sure of that
the devil, he will burn you
to ashes, like a filthy rat
but faith will keep you true
to a life that’s lived for Christ,
our killed and risen King
and you’ve been divinely priced
above most anything.
He bore the pain you should have had
and in His Grace, you can be clad.
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Thanks, Andrew! I don’t think I’ve had a comment in the form of a poem before! You’re very talented!
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I’m glad that you added that it is reassuring that God doesn’t always provide comfort. I see it that way as some days I find myself lost ima middle of inconvenience.
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I think the world so conditions us to expect convenience that it is important to remind ourselves that following Jesus is not meant to be that way.
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So good! So true, I def love my convenience. But I think it also makes things “harder” for so many because they can become barriers to connecting with things that matter most. Great thoughts!
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Yes, I think convenience can be a distraction from what really matters.
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I needed to read this today. Such a great application of the word convenient. Thank you!
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Thanks, Betsy! I’m glad you found it helpful!
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