Suffer for Christ?

1 Peter 3:18 For Christ suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the Spirit.

Yesterday I went to Barnes and Noble to pick up some books to take to the beach. My wife,Evie, and I are retroactively celebrating our 15th wedding anniversary with a four night stay in Blue Mountain Beach Florida and we are going to chill, exercise, read, pray and eat! By ourselves, I might add. Anyhow, as I browsed the Christianity section, I was struck by the titles and core messages of many of the books in the section. The books promised the Christian that every day they would feel good, get promotions, ride high on the hog, look good and feel great. About the only thing I didn't see was Abraham's 8 minute abs or Samuel's stock plan. Okay, maybe I am stretching it just a bit, but maybe not. The bible itself actually offers us one thing: To pick up our cross (an instrument of Death) and follow Christ. It offers us a love with commitment, and that commitment is to walk in the world as Christ did, with an anticipation of a Spiritual resurrection that brings us back to the Father's arms forever. If you look at the verse above it points us back to the truth that as Christ lived, he suffered for us, he didn't come to get rich, have every day feel like a Friday, or fuss over "spiritual gifts". He came to suffer as a sacrifice for the sins of men. Guess what? He calls us to do the same. "Bear others burdens" the bible says. Paul says it best in Philippians 3:10 "That I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and may share in His sufferings, becoming like Him in His death". What is Paul saying? He is saying that this world has nothing for Him, except an opportunity to build the Kingdom of Christ. He lives to die and suffer, just like Christ did, so that sinners can see the beauty of the sacrifice of the Cross. Suffering for the name of Christ is the primary avenue to know Christ. That is a stark contrast with the contemporary promises of God being more interested in your bank account and comfort than His name, or the lost. Now even as I type this, I am convicted of how easy it is to drift into a life in 2012 complacency. My flesh doesn't want to suffer and sacrifice, it wants to be made much of. That is the point, Christianity promises to put the flesh and the desires of this World to death, not inflate them, so that the spirit can blossom. That is the model of Christ and the driving purpose of Christianity- make much of Christ at all costs. Is that happening in your life, or are you trying to use Christianity to help you build your kingdom here on Earth? That is a razor thin line that only you and God can answer. Be careful thinking the sacrifice of the Son of God is solely for your advancement. It's primary purpose is that the whole world will give praise to the Son! This will not come with casual Church participation or focus on ourselves. It will come if we walk as Jesus did, willing to give our lives for the Father's love and will! The best way to see your righteousness may be to look inside your heart and see if there is a desire to suffer for the unrighteous, or unredeemed sinners. I am convinced the fuel for that will be our constant acknowledgement of our flesh's sinfulness, the Spirit's power in regenerating our Hearts to build the Kingdom and our delight in worshipping an unbelievable god.