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I used to work in campus ministry on a volunteer basis where I was part of a team that would actively engage students in the campus. One of the questions we would ask to engage the youth is this: “Do you want to follow Jesus? Why or why not?”
Many times we would receive the answer “no,” the reason would always have something to do with wanting to enjoy life for the moment as if being in a relationship with Christ would remove any form or trace of enjoyment forever.
I honestly don’t know where such an idea ever came from, but the pretence behind it is an utterly dirty lie. Many pre-believers view God as a cosmic killjoy who is out to remove anything and everything that can bring us enjoyment. They think of sin and a life without God as the life that one truly enjoys and a life with God as a boring and tasteless pursuit of all things dull.
Psalm 34:8 tells us this: “Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!”
When we truly come to a full and whole relationship with Christ, we find that there could be nothing more enjoyable than that. Why? Because God is all about your enjoyment. God wants you to live in everlasting and surpassing joy and tells us that such joy can only be found one way- and that’s through Jesus Christ.
But the twisted view of this world would like us to believe that sin, independence and separation from God is what brings satisfaction and enjoyment. The fact is that no known sin has ever proven itself to be satisfying in any way. It instead leaves you empty wanting more of it.
If we come to look at it in retrospect, the many times people look at God as a cosmic killjoy often have something to do with a bad example. They might have come across a “Christian” who lived a life with Christ but without any sign of life. We think of Christianity as simply obeying a set of rules and removing anything that seems to have colour to it.
Without a shadow of a doubt, God wants you to enjoy life and He knows that enjoyment comes only when we experience Him. Apart from God there can be no joy and satisfaction. The Westminster Shorter Catechism says “Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever.”
If you’re a Christian today, you are in the most enjoyable and pleasurable position that this world will ever know – the position of being with Christ. If you don’t feel that Christianity is exciting and enjoyable then you are missing the point. God, Jesus, His ways, His will, His Word are all exciting things that with the right perspective will cause you to enjoy life.
