Tasting the elusive carrot

Our lives revolve around expectations. Expectations that life, our society, work and people place on us. Some of the greatest expectations we have are those that we place on ourselves and this is generally formed by the expectations of others.

When we are in the process of trying fulfilling these expectations we have a certain drive or motivation to fulfil them as we go through life and when an expectation is fulfilled we find a certain satisfaction. This is because we have proved that we are something special.

Think about it, you might have an expectation to be the best in your profession, the best person you can be, or an expectation to become rich or to find happiness when you’ve reached a certain milestone in your life. And right now, you are not yet there, you have not proved it and cannot accept that you are special or the person you thought you could be.

This feeling or subconscious drive for fulfilment makes us attempt more, try harder and fight for what we want in life.

Some of us have reached our goals and found a level of satisfaction and then we set out to form new expectations that will give us more fulfilment in order to prove more things about ourselves. And so the cycle continues.

Some have failed miserably, disappointed themselves and others and have not had the courage to get up again and remain unfulfilled.

But is this really the way to a fulfilled life? Is meeting your own expectations really going to give you the joy and fulfilment that you want? Is proving a point to others and yourself really going to cut it? History kind of tells us that those who make their millions and reach their dreams are generally not fulfilled and become depressed after climbing the proverbial ladder. It seems kind of deceptive to think that one can reach the pinnacle of happiness by following this subconscious drive. There is always a higher ladder to climb and you never seem to quite reach the top. You might have accepted that this is just the way that life is, and seeing that everyone else is doing it like this it makes sense to do it anyway. Or we just keep on doing it and try to be better at it then other people.

Perhaps the greatest expectations we can have are those that we believe God has of us. If God expects something of me, I can never really relax until I’ve met that expectation. And quite frankly if God expects something of you now, he always will, and you will never quite reach His expectations of you. And if God is not satisfied with you not reaching expectations how on earth can you be satisfied in yourself?

Is this just the way things are or are we missing something?

Yes, we have missed something. We have missed the simple Gospel (good news). We have missed the point of life and Christianity altogether.

We are not to live up to a certain level of fulfilment but rather from a place of fulfilment.

We are not climbing the ladder to get more, we have already reached the top.

God is not expecting anything of you except that you be fulfilled in what His son Jesus Christ has already done for you.

You see, I am not trying to please God anymore, living my life in a way to meet expectations and obey certain rules so that I may be accepted, blessed or approved. I believe that Jesus in my place has been accepted, approved and that He has met all expectations.

I have died, all my attempts to meet expectations have died, and a new creation has emerged that is perfect and seated with Christ in heavenly places.

The focus in no longer on myself, or what I believe God expects of me, but my focus is on Him and that He has met all expectations, carried all sin and paid the whole price.

Rom 6:1It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.

We are so quick to be entangled in a yoke of slavery and fall back into self-improvement, or find ways to reach fulfilment by attempting to do it our way, instead of seeing and accepting what He has done for me.

You see the whole problem is with what we see and believe.  If I believe that I am poor while missing the fact that I already have 1 Billion Dollars in my bank account, I will live poor and work my head of to get the money.

But if I see and believe that I have been made rich by the perfect Son of God, I will live like a rich man. This is not merely “the power of positive thinking” as positive thinking sometimes ignores the facts and makes me lie to myself in order to feel better. The power of positive thinking will eventually run out as my subconscious continually reminds me that I am lying to myself.

No, this is recognition of eternal, spiritual truth. This is a spiritual epiphany where you come face to face with the gospel facts. The fact that you have indeed died and have were resurrected as a new creation. The fact that you were accepted, forgiven and welcomed into the eternal embrace of your creator 2000 years ago regardless of who you are or your successes or failures.

Once this more powerful spiritual truth takes hold of you, it doesn’t just transform your spiritual life, but everything else too.

Now you no longer do things to get more, but you do things to give more of what you have already freely received.

You no longer start that business to reach the top, you start that business because you are overflowing with creativity and passion of God.

You no longer become a preacher because it is what God expects of you, but you become a preacher because you cannot shut up about this goodness of God.

The father of lies will always lie, and try to keep us climbing the same deceptive ladder, striving our lives away trying to reach that elusive carrot.

But the simple truth of the gospel declares that through Christ we could have tasted it all along!