God's kids don't get a free ride.
1 Peter 1:14-15 So you must live as God’s obedient children. Don’t slip back into your old ways of living to satisfy your own desires. You didn’t know any better then.
But now you must be holy in everything you do, just as God who chose you is holy.
Life isn't easy, but if you want to pursue the easy life then being a Christ follower is not the way to go. You stand a better chance of skating through life without any bruises if you stay away from Jesus.
Living to satisfy self doesn't require much effort on your part, that's the most natural way to live, staying away from Jesus will help you to live life effortlessly. No requirements, no standards, just do whatever feels right to you.
God calls his children to live to a higher standard, he establishes what is right with his "inconvenient" absolute truth and then he commands us to do what's right, to love him above all others and put others before yourself. Much is required of us but we also have much to gain.
Life is hard, we have been told to live different, as we strive to be holy. We need to remember that this life is but a minute when we have our sights set on eternity. The trials that we face will be over as we walk into the priceless inheritance that Jesus has prepared for us, no more pain, no more struggle, there is wonderful joy ahead!
