Convenient Christianity

So why do we look for it?  Why do we try to shape our lives around it?   Like a fascinating fictional character it doesn't exist.  Like an oasis that promises relief for our thirsty souls it doesn't exist.  We hope for it, strive for it, and extend massive amounts of energies toward discovering it, but after all our efforts we are left empty, unsatisfied, and wondering why our faith seems so meaningless.  

I'm talking about a faith that's convenient.  You see, it doesn't exist.  There's no such thing.  No matter how hard we look for it we will never find it.  When you boil it all down a convenient faith is an oxymoron - it can't co-exist.  God never invited us into His great story of redemption solely to make our lives easier.  In fact, much of Scripture speaks of trials, persecution, and hardships as a direct result of our faith.  Christian faith is a wonderful, almost hard to explain, invitation to see past the hardships, and to willingly endure all things for the sake of Christ.  It is becoming so captivated by His love that all things seem to fail in comparison to His great love.

I'm tired and weary.  Not from serving Christ.  Rather, I am exhausted from trying to reduce my faith to a self-serving ideology.  It has been leaving me empty, and I no longer want to chase it.  I'm sure I'll stumble and from time to time by trying to embrace a faith that is completely at odds with what it means to follow Christ.  However, I will do what I can, in my limited understanding, to follow Christ as He intended.  May Jesus uphold this inner desire and give me the strength to follow in His shoes.