At War With the Gates of Hell: Emery Johnson
Maybe it’s me, but if I was to see this, I’d keep scrolling because some crazy person thinks it's the end of times. I promise that is not what I’m writing. This post is about not wasting your life. Over this past summer, I read Don’t Waste Your Life by John Piper. It’s a great book. Definitely give it a read if reading is something you enjoy. God loves us and wants us to love Him. To live a life loving Him is not wasting your life.
“Life is wasted if we do not grasp the glory of the cross, cherish it for the treasure that it is, and cleave to it as the highest price of every pleasure and the deepest comfort in every pain.”
- John Piper
We are at war against the gates of Hell daily. We are in enemy territory faced with what seems like unfair odds. We don’t get a sick day. Yes, it is ok to have bad days. Days where being happy feels unattainable. But we cannot wake up and say, “Hey, today I’ve decided to not trust you, Jesus. I think I can do this whole life thing better on my own.” Though we have been given the ultimate gift of salvation, each day we have to choose Jesus, love, faith, compassion, and all the fruit of the Spirit. All the things we have heard in passing or grew up learning in Sunday school. This is the foundation that we look back on with the love and innocence of a child.
There is no one right path. God did not say we have to figure out His master plan for our life, and if we don’t, He will stop loving us. There is no hidden career we have to figure out before we turn 25. Similarly, just because you do not go into ministry does not mean you are no longer a Christian. It is the same as when you are torn between two jobs. We create this fictional idea that one of the job options is definitely wrong and the other is correct, but hey, you just have to guess and hope you picked the right one. We were all born different. Yes, we all know this, but when it comes to where to go to college, what to major in, or where to work during the summer, do I take the internship or work at the bakery? That does not matter. God will use you the same amount whether we are studying at 10:30am or in Mexico on a mission trip. With God at the center, we can better understand how God loves us and wants us to love Him. To live a life loving Him is not wasting your life.
I hope you kept reading, and I pray God has used this harvest post in a fruitful way. I pray that all of you choose to stand against the gates of Hell daily and help and love your neighbours standing beside you. May you have mercy and compassion for those that have lost hope and give them the hope of Jesus.
Emery Johnson is a junior Architecture major at Louisiana Tech. She is passionate about the outdoors, mission work, and her friends. Emery has been coming to The Wesley Foundation since she first arrived at Tech, and has been a staple of the community ever since.