Pressure
In recent years, I have come to realize through age and experience that so many of us are concerned about the lives of others. However, we aren’t concerned in a way that is healthy. We worry about what everyone else has, is doing, looks, is living, and how popular they might be. Some would argue that this is only relegated to the middle school crowd, but the secret is that this continues through life. We measure our lives according to the lives of others, and become extremely disappointed when they come up short. The problem is that our lives aren’t the same as everyone else’s.
“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life.” ~Steve Jobs
For some reason, we have even allowed this to trickle over into our own decisions about serving God. We allow the decisions of other people to dictate our actions and participation in activities of the Church. I can simply sum it up with what I call the “phone tree effect “(a common occurrence in teens, but also adults). Let’s say that we are going to have a get together for fellowship at the church. Person A calls person B who then calls Person C. The question that streams through each of these conversations is “Are you going to this?” A no can create a domino effect that will ripple throughout various social circles, and create a group of non-participation based solely on the absence of their social group.
For some reason, people do the same thing when it comes to Heaven. They look around their social group and ask themselves the question “Are they going to Heaven?” If the answer is no, then they feel that there isn’t any stock in this Heaven business, and go about their way. However, it must be realized that salvation is a personal issue not to be decided by others. Paul told the Philippians to “work out your own salvation with fear and trembling” (Php 2:12), and we should be doing the very same today. Don’t let someone else dictate your eternal life. Figure out your eternity for yourself.
