AN OBSESSION

With most people religion is an important part of their lives. So long as it does not cost too much, so long as it does not interfere with their hobbies and ambitions, they will attend church and give their money regularly. Of course, other things come first; their jobs, their families, their houses, etc. But religion is important. They need it!

But with the true believer things are far different. To the child of God, his religion is his life. He is obsessed with the Lord Jesus Christ! Everything else is secondary. The honor of Christ, the kingdom of Christ, the worship of Christ, these are the things which obsess his time, his energy, his interest, his possessions, and his heart. He lives to serve his Master. The true believer says, “I count everything to be nothing, that I may win Christ.” From his inmost soul, he cries unto the Lord, “Whom have I in heaven beside thee. And there is none upon the earth that I desire beside thee. My heart and my flesh faileth: but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever.”

My friend, to know Christ is to love him. And to love him is to be obsessed with him. Perhaps this comes near to the meaning of our Lord’s words, “The kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force.”

Is your heart and life obsessed with Christ? Or is he just another important part of your life? It may be that the state of your everlasting soul will be manifest by an honest answer to those questions. The way to find life is to lose your life in Christ. He will be all in all, or he will be nothing at all.