Putting Jesus First in a World of Pleasures

Based on how you lived last week, what was your primary pursuit? Was it career, money, recognition, promotion, family, pleasure, or something else? We often know what the correct answer should be, but our lives often paint another picture.

We are all living for something; whatever it is, we believe it will bring us happiness and give our lives meaning. Some are pursuing sexuality, marriage, retirement, or a host of other things. In their proper place, many of these are good gifts from God. The problem is, if we make any of them our primary pursuit, they will disappoint.

We are all familiar with Paul’s statement, “To live is Christ” (Philippians 1:21). G. Campbell Morgan once pointed out that if we put any of the above pursuits in place of Christ, it does not sound like a problem at first glance.

To live is family.
To live is recognition.
To live is money.
To live is sexual fulfillment.
To live is career.

Many people live their lives with these mottos. Sometimes, they are spoken; sometimes, they are not. Again, in their correct place, all of these things can be gifts from God, but in the place of Jesus, they all fail to live up to the promise. G. Campbell Morgan points this out by completing Paul’s statement with these mottos.

To live is family. To die is loss.
To live is recognition. To die is loss.
To live is money. To die is loss.
To live is sexual fulfillment. To die is loss.
To live is career. To die is loss.

Naked you came from your mother’s womb, and naked you shall return (Job 1:21). There is only one who makes life truly abundant and causes death to lose its sting.

To live is Christ; to die is gain.

I ask again, not based on what you know the correct answer to be, but based on how you lived last week: how would you finish this sentence? “To live is _________.”

Even as believers, we often find other things crowding Christ out of his central place in our lives. We must be on guard against this. It is easy to fall into the ways of the world because it comes at us from every direction, but we must view the world in the same way Scripture views it. The things of earth are passing away. We cannot place our ultimate hope in them.

Today, before we continue our pursuits, we should confess to the Lord that fleshly passions often drive us, and we need to ask him to remove these other masters from our lives. 

He is a faithful God. When we draw near to him, he will draw near to us. Putting Jesus first in our lives will not only disarm death by removing its ability to cause us loss and, instead, bring us gain, but we will also find that Christ is the true life we desire. All our other pursuits leave us empty, but not with Christ. He gives us the life that this barren world can never provide. Seek him today and live, and even death will be a reward.

-D. Eaton