Good Old Comfortable Jeans

Don’t you just love a comfortable pair of well-worn jeans!  I have a couple pair that I’ve worn for several years, Eddie Bauer loose-fit jeans that fit just right.  I tried to replace them a couple of years ago, but for some reason, the new ones were cut differently and just didn’t fit like the old ones.  My favorite jeans are worn and faded.  The edges of the pockets and the bottoms of the legs are frayed, and the side seams are starting to disintegrate.  But unless I have to go out in public, and sometimes even when I do, these are the jeans of my choice.  I hate to surrender them to the laundry, because after they come out of the dryer, I have to wear them for a day or two before they feel just right.  I know I’ll have to throw them out one day, but as long as I can get away with it, I’m keeping them.

Sometimes our Christianity can become like a comfortable pair of jeans.  We get used to our routines of going to church on Sunday, putting some money in the offering plate or even tithing (as long as we can get a tax deduction for it), and generally living a life of avoiding sin.  We choose our churches based on the style of music that we like or the style of preaching that we hear.  Sometimes we’ll hear a message or a song that speaks to us, and stirs up a desire to change.  That’s kind of like putting the old jeans in the washer and dryer.  It’s uncomfortable for a few days.  But if we don’t change, we’re wearing the same old jeans and our Christianity becomes comfortable again.

I have spent long periods of time in comfortable Christianity.  It seems to happen most during times of prosperity.  When life is going well, business is good, health is good, and I’m surrounded by friends that are experiencing the same, it’s easy to slide into comfortable Christianity.  We can become so satisfied with what we have, we become self-sufficient and we forget what we’re here for.  Sometimes God shakes our world to awaken us from our comfort and draw us back to dependence on Him.

Jesus didn’t die on the cross so we could live a life of ease and comfort.  He died to pay the penalty of sin for all mankind so we can fellowship with Him and bring honor and glory to the name of Jesus Christ.  We do that by giving of ourselves to further His kingdom.  Ephesians 2:10 says “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”  ESV

Are you comfortable in your Christianity?  Is your life characterized by selfishness or are you giving of yourself so that others will see Christ in you?  It may be time to get rid of the old comfortable jeans.