Genuine Imitations

I used to have a pastor who would say, “If serving God were easy, then everybody would be doing it.” I partially agree with his statement. I think if it were easy, there might be more people doing something that looks like ’serving God’. What I mean is, wherever you see something beautiful, or magnificent, or profound, it’s because someone somewhere took the time and energy to pour themselves into that thing. If you look at nature, you see the work of an amazing creator. Art… an artist. Technology… a techie. Buildings… a builder. Etc., etc… But along with those beautiful, magnificent and profound works, we also find cheap imitations… amateur rip-offs… fakes.

Take marriage as an example… an extremely hard relationship to build. I think anyone who’s ever been in a relationship would agree that a good marriage has got to be one of the hardest things any two peopl could ever attemp to do. But a beautiful thing… when worked at. I’d personally argue that marriage is the most beautifully authentic expression of love two people can ever share. (I’ve been married just a little over three months. Yes, I’m an amatuer.)

But how many imitation marriages do we see existing alongside the genuine article? I know, that sounds harsh. But if we’re serious about acquiring professional authenticity in our cars, homes, businesses, health, etc., then why not apply the same kind of language to our relationships… especially marriage. It’s a lot easier to simply live with someone or just sleep with someone than to make a life-long committment to that person. It’s a lot easier to do the things that look a lot like marriage, than to actually put in the blood, sweat and tears it takes to build the real thing. The imitation crap never lasts very long. The authentic stuff costs a lot more, but it’s good for the long-haul.

Jesus, several times, referred to his followers, the church, as his bride. But if following Him were easy, then I don’t know that ‘bride’ is a very accurate word to describe the relationship he’s looking for. Here’s my point… Jesus gave us the perfect example of what it looks like to ’serve God’. He describes it as marriage. Marriage is an amazing thing, and by definition, is meant to last until ‘death do you part’ (for life). Only that’s really hard work. And as far as I can tell (only three months into my own), there’ll be an unlimited number of great reasons to give up along the way. OR… simply settle for the imitation version. I’ve tried that version… many times. It doesn’t even come close to the genuine article. (on so many levels)

 So here’s my real point… serving God is NOT easy. If it was, it wouldn’t really be what it’s supposed to be. It’d be a cheap imitation version of ’serving God’. And it’d last for a little while. Until the next great thing came along. So if you’re finding it perhaps extremely difficult making it work. Don’t fret! It sounds like you’ve gotten married. Keep working at it. Don’t give up. He loves you. He’s with you. He sacrificed Everything for you. Trust Him. Talk to Him. Until death do you part… and then some.