I have heard it said that Christianity is "just another fear based religion". It might surprise you to find that this was said by people who know the Bible and have walked as a "Christian" at some point in their life. I will be completely honest and admit that much of my Christian life has been walking in fear. But that was simply because I was missing the point.
When I was younger I had heard of Satan and the "fiery pits of hell", and I wanted NO part of that. Have you ever had a curling iron burn?!? Or even a sunburn?!? I can't imagine feeling that pain on every part of my body for all of eternity. No way. So I was going to be a Christian and do whatever God wanted me to do. I was afraid of hell. Simple as that. After a few years I had become intrigued with the "end times" and was enthralled with the Left Behind series of books and Revelations (of course). Now I was no longer just afraid of hell.. but of being "left behind". I didn't (and still don't) want to have to be here to witness and endure the Antichrist's reign on Earth. I don't want to be tested and punished or even killed for my faith. I would rather quietly vanish onto a cloud in my sleep peacefully with Jesus... who wouldn't?!
It was only recently that I discovered a whole new faith. A whole new perspective. I fell in love. Just as I fell in love with my gorgeous husband, I fell in love with Jesus. It started with listening to Contemporary Christian music on the radio. Have you ever listened to this stuff? They all sound like love songs. You could serenade your sweetheart with these songs! I was being wooed. Jesus won my heart through song. this song sings it perfectly. In falling in love with Him, I started wanting to please Him. I have a desire to make Him smile and to make His heart happy.
I compare this relationship with my marriage. I fell in love with Mike and I was crazy, head over heels! I wanted to do all the right things and say all the right things and make him just as crazy in love with me as I was with him. I wanted to do whatever he wanted to make him happy. I cook his dinner and wash his clothes and kiss him goodbye and hello.. not because I am afraid of him leaving me.. but because I love him. I will never cheat on him with any other, not because I am afraid of him leaving me, but because I have no desire for any other. Nobody catches my eye anymore but him. I have complete faith that he will never leave me. Our relationship is solid. It isn't going anywhere.
This is the same with my relationship with Christ. I want to serve Him and love Him and go where He wants me to go and do what He wants me to do. Not because I am afraid of going to hell, but because I want to. I have eyes for no other. I only want to be with Him and make Him happy.
There is a Dixie Chicks (yea yea.. I know... I used to like them before they bashed Toby Keith and Bush too..) song that sings about missing her love. "Looking back and longing for the freedom of my chains." This line has been ringing in my ears. Many times I have been asked why I would ever choose to be "chained" down to Christ and the rules and whatnot that goes along with Christianity. Well.. where some might see chains, I see freedom. Freedom from death, freedom from sin. I don't miss dating other people just as much as I don't miss the sinful life I was living before I was born again.
Romans 6:17-18 17 But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you have come to obey from your heart the pattern of teaching that has now claimed your allegiance. 18 You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.
"As a sinner, separated from God, you see his law from below, as a ladder to be climbed to get to God. Perhaps you have repeatedly tried to climb it, only to fall to the ground every time you had advanced one or two rungs. Or perhaps the sheer height of the ladder seems so overwhelming that you have never even started up. In either case, what relief you should feel to see Jesus offering with open arms to lift you above the ladder of the law, to take you directly to God! Once Jesus lifts you into God's presence, you are free to obey-- out of love, not necessity, and through God's power, not your own. You know that if you stumble, you will not fall back to the ground. Instead, you will be caught and held in Christ's loving arms."
