In the morning, you take the time to pray and fill your mind completely with thoughts of God, setting out for another day of work. However, on your way to work, you get stuck in traffic. Once you finally reach work, the boss yells at you for arriving late. Then, once you finally sit down to do your work, your computer freezes. Upon finally arriving home, Jesus could not be any farther from your train of thought. I have been in this situation as well. After a long stressful day, you cannot help but focus on the stressful events that happened during the day instead of God.

Christians must remember that this life we’re living isn’t even ours. Regardless of all the daily distractions of life, we are to always remember that God not only gave us life by creating us but also died for us.

I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. (Galatians 2:20 NIV)

According to this scripture, Jesus died on the cross for all of us; ultimately, we no longer live by our own will but by doing God’s will alone. Throughout the day, as life runs its course, we can become overwhelmed with distractions, both stressful and joyful, that make us forget who we really are: sons and daughters of God.

No matter how much strength we have throughout the day to believe and have faith, we must always remember that faith by our own strength is bound to fluctuate; but, a faith based on Christ will never be tossed to and fro. Pastor Burk Parsons explains this stating that “our hope isn’t built on the constantly changing strength of our faith but on the eternal strength of the object of our faith, Jesus Christ.” Jesus died for us – effectively cleansing away our sins for good. We must have complete faith in Him by aligning our life with His word. We can do this by knowing that whatever happens throughout the day, whether it is good or bad, is all part of God’s plan.

There’s no need to fret over the anxieties of today or become distracted by the material joys of the world to the point where we forget about Him. What matters is that we’ve died to self and given ourselves fully to Christ Jesus our Lord.

-Matthew Garcia

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