"It ain't gonna be easy, but nothing worth it ever is."

Walking through the living room I heard two men on a television show talking. The only part of the conversation I heard was one man telling another “It ain’t going to be easy.” The other man replies back, “Nothing worth it ever is.”  Wow! Such words of wisdom from, well I have no idea what show it was from because I was just passing through, but powerful none-the-less. This phrase has echoed through my mind for the past few months. I see it played out often and have used it when talking to friends about things going on in their lives. I have used it when applying things to my own life. Nothing worth it is ever easy. Think about the things you value or find worth in …  Your spouse? Your kids? Your best friend? Your job? Your … anything else. Marriage is hard! Not that I know from experience but I know second hand knowledge. Having friends who are married and tell me about the struggles of marriage, “it ain’t easy.” Friends that have kids, and well, my poor poor parents. Having kids is not an easy thing, yet it is worth it to raise them and to love them. Having a best friend is not easy. Anything where there is more than just you, well it is not going to be easy. But think about the friendships or relationships you value the most … how many arguments or disagreements or frustrations have you endured? You look back now and most likely say, “It was worth it.”

We do not fight for things if we do not think they are worth it to us. I look back on some of the arguments I have had in the past and even the things I have spent my money on and ask my self why I thought it was worth it. Ecclesiastes (the entire book) shows us that everything outside of living for Christ is “striving after the wind.” Keeping that in mind, reevaluating things that are worth it seem rather difficult to me. What is worth the money? What is worth the time? What is worth the effort? And so on and so forth. I am reading a book, Every Woman’s Battle, and in this book it poses the question “what are you storing up in your heart?” About a week ago, or so, our pastor mentioned the same question in his sermon, “what are you storing up in your heart?” (I think God has been trying to get me to reevaluate some things in my life, what do you think? J). Both my pastor and the author are getting at the same thing, the entertainment (movies, books, music, television, internet, hobbies, etc) that I watch/listen to/read/etc are all storing up in my heart. The overflow of the mouth comes from the heart. Am I showing Christ’s likeness from my mouth? If not, the worldliness escaping my lips are proof of what I hold as valuable.

We as people store up what we find the most valuable. There are people that collect Star Wars memorabilia and they count that as their most prized possession. Others stock pile their money, money is what they value most. Some hang on to pictures because they value the memories. Everyone has something they find valuable. Yet, is your most prized possession worth it? Is it worth the difficulty? Men lose their families because they become workaholics thinking more money will make their family happy and satisfied. The original intent was not bad, they value their family and want to take care of them yet they lose sight of their kids needing a dad and their wife needing a husband. They lost sight of the original commitment. Their idea of value somehow was switched and they now seek financial gain as their sense of security completely taking their eyes off “the prize,” Christ. Christ saw us as something so valuable and so worth it that He came to earth, was born in a smelly manger, lived a poor and humble life for 33 years, was crucified, and died. All because He believed that something so worth it would not be easy. He paid the ultimate sacrifice so that we could have a chance at knowing Him. Not just that, but scripture says that He being man was tempted in every way. He was tempted by anger, He was tempted with financial gain … get this He was even tempted with lust and sexual desire. Yet, He overcame it all. He lived a perfectly sinless life. He saw YOU as something so worth it that He would fight the fight for you, even 2,000 years ago so YOU could have a chance to come to know Him.

Christ knows that following Him is not easy. He knows that we are going to be tempted by things. Following Christ is not easy, but oh is it so very worth it! Living for Christ is the only thing that is truly worth anything. We cannot take our money, clothes, material possessions, entertainment, etc with us when we die. NO! It is temporary. We can only take with us the things we have stored up for eternity. Scripture tells us that all our words and deeds will be put to the test by fire. It says that all things of hay and stubble will be burned up but all things of gold and silver will come through. What do you see when you look at your life? God created us to glorify Him. Glorifying Him “ain’t gonna be easy, but nothing worth it ever is.”

Is what you are living for really worth living for?