A few years ago there was a TV commercial for Doritos Chips® in which there were three businessmen eating from a large bag of Doritos while standing in front of a series of windows in a conference room, on the top floor of a downtown high-rise building. As these three men were peering out of the windows they saw four construction workers grouped together at the corner of the street. Upon a closer look, the businessmen saw only one of the construction workers actually working while the other three were standing around him pointing and yelling out directions. The camera then redirects itself back to the three businessmen and one of them says, “that would never happen in the corporate world”, followed by a stream of laughs from the other two men who were still standing around the windows eating the bag of Doritos. At that moment, the camera pans away from the three businessmen to a large conference table in which a woman is sitting in front of a laptop computer and yells, “I’ve got it!” When the three businessmen hear this they say “great,” walk back to the conference table where the female businesswoman was working and do nothing more than continue to stare over her shoulder and watch her work while they finish eating the bag of Doritos.

This commercial was meant to be a funny satire on the work habits of men and woman in the corporate world; as opposed to a direct attack on the true reality of a habitual gender work ethic…although some woman I know might have something to say about that assumption! The principle of the commercial however still holds true; the world ultimately wants a break.

Whether people are aware of what they are doing or not, everyone is looking for the quickest and easiest way to everything. But what is everything, and why is everyone looking for it? Is it a quick way to love? How about an easy path to job advancements, money, driving directions, or even to righteousness? In this world, the way from Point A to Point B has become a direct competition of outward social constructs through image. Let me clarify.

In a Christian world there are those who pick up their cross and bear it for their religious belief system for only themselves and their Creator. And then, there are those who pick up a cross and display it for others to see so that onlookers may know and revere that cross as nothing more than an archetype, or a public pronunciation of a perceived burden. Just the same, in the secular world there is the philosophy of fulfillment through accumulation (this is by no means saying that people should not fulfill their dreams through what they have earned by working hard). This is nonetheless raising the question of how many people are actually ready to roll up their sleeves and literally put absolutely everything on the line for a desired result? Sometimes in life, the path to eternal fulfillment does not have a quickest or an easiest way. For many, the only way through is layered with a cross too heavy to carry, a task too big to fully encompass, and constant reminders that the genuine faith in your belief system will have to always push beyond its outer boundaries. With that said, why would anyone willfully choose to live that life; a life in limbo that might never see the end come to fruition here on earth? The answer is simple. Those willing to lay everything down are spiritually content in the fact that they know they have done all they could have possibly done in this life to accomplish their mission.

Take a second to look around right now. Are you willing to sacrifice your possessions? Money? Time? Job? Family? Life? Too many people want to reap the benefits without bearing the stripes. A few Sundays ago I heard a wonderful message from a friend of mine, Pastor Michael Allen at Uptown Baptist Church in Chicago. The conclusion to his message was, “What would you attempt for God if you knew beforehand that you could not fail?” What a great life concept! Unfortunately the vast majority of people will never have that mind-frame because it is too imposing of a challenge. There have been many lost opportunities in life because too many people want to reap the benefits without bearing the stripes. Therefore, be encouraged today to step forth and make a commitment within your soul that life does not guarantee us a quick path anywhere, but on our Lord’s path we will be ready to dig in and fulfill all that we have been asked to do, no matter what.

Thank you and God Bless,

Andrew Marin