One of the greatest temptations in life is to get comfortable.
Do you like being comfortable? Yeah, me too! If it’s a little too
hot or a little too cold when I get on a plane, I don’t like that. If
my favorite foods aren’t easy to find, that irritates me. If the pillows
in the hotel aren’t just as I like them, it throws a ripple in my
mood.
I like comfort—and there is so much comfort available. It is so
easy to make comfort a priority in our lives. This leads to comfort
addiction. Then even the slightest discomfort makes us irritable,
restless, and discontent. Before long we are becoming one of
those people who burst into an angry rage over the tiniest thing.
A couple of weeks ago, I was speaking with a friend, and he
said something that really made me stop and reflect: “Everybody
is looking for an easier, softer way.” It’s a generalization. It may
not be true for everyone. But it sure seems true for most people.
We want life to be easier. We want the path we walk to be softer.
We want to be comfortable.
Is comfort good for us? Is the comfortable path the way of the
Christian? It seems that it isn’t. This is not simply my opinion.
There are many things that may seem unclear when we read the
Gospels, but the general criteria for following Jesus is abundantly
clear. In Matthew’s Gospel we read, “If anyone wishes to come
after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross, and follow
me” (Matthew 16:24). Deny yourself. Jesus was clear. He didn’t
promise or even allude to an easy path. He did not promise comfort.
He promised quite the opposite. He set denial of self as a primary
condition of discipleship, and he promised that each of us
would have a cross of our own to carry.
Why doesn’t Jesus want us to get comfortable? The reason is
simple, profound, and practical: He doesn’t want us to forget that
we are just passing through this world. We are pilgrims. When we
get comfortable we start to behave as if we are going to live on this
earth forever—and we are not.
Perhaps if our lives have become comfortable that alone is a
sign that we have wandered away from the Gospel path. When
was the last time you denied yourself? Was it a large or small
thing?
Matthew Kelly
From Rediscover Jesus
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