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What the Bible calls sin, deeds of darkness, whatnot often feels really good in the moment. No matter who in the clergy tries to convince you that following God results in joyful living, and that following God is surefire way to be happy, no amount of Spirit-induced joy can produce the same dopamine high as snorting crystal meth. Likewise, sin lets you achieve highs of pleasure that an upstanding citizen of God’s kingdom will probably never experience. However, it’s but for a moment, and leaves you feeling empty and regretful in its wake. See how many people are going to AA meetings to quit using?

Upstanding citizens of God’s kingdom have to exercise utmost focus and willpower to keep their eyes on Christ, and Christ only. You look away for a moment, and you’ll find you have strayed. If suffering comes your way, you must endure it. Maybe sometimes, you’ll be happy. But you’ll find that you can go to sleep easy knowing that you’ve fought the good fight, and that your conscience is clear(er).

So, you can’t have your cake, and eat it too. Ya gotta choose. What do you want?

I find that as I get older, I become more aware of death. Death is useful as a sieve for filtering out the things that are important and not important. It reminds me that I should choose to be an upstanding citizen of God’s kingdom, because that’s what really matters.