"I will sing a new song to You, O God; on a harp of ten strings I will sing praises to You." Psalm 144:9

We cannot walk the line, we cannot have the best of both worlds. Following Christ must be a lifestyle, many times I like to look at it like playing a sport. A professional athlete is required to train, study, and work every day...the amount of time that they put in determines the results. "Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life." Galatians 6:7-8. Our spiritual life in many ways, is just like that of an athlete. The amount of time we put in, through prayer, meditation, praise, and exemplification of Christ determines the level of our relationship with God. God commands us to pick up the cross and follow him, he challenges us, clearly stating that life will be difficult, that we will face trials, temptations, and tribulation. But what we are doing is storing up for eternity. "For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal." 2 Corinthians 4:17-18. We must live for God, in everything we say and do. The bible can be one of the most complicated books ever written, but we have to just take it as it is written. If we always look for a way around things, if we always ask ourselves, "what did God really mean?" Then we will always find an excuse, or a reason to argue. God did not command us to overanalyze his word, he did not command us to pick apart every sentence and the context of every word within the sentence. God commanded us, "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his live will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it." Luke 9:23-24. Notice that he doesn't say take up his cross when he feels like it, Jesus clearly says daily...every morning we wake up we face the challenge, do we want to live for us? Or do we want to live for Christ? Are we willing to deny ourselves and follow him, daily? Are we willing to lose our lives in order to save it in Christ? Jesus poured out his blood on Calvary. He made the ultimate sacrifice, he allowed himself to be beaten, whipped, brutalized, and nailed to a tree to cover our sins, past, present, and future.