That Elusive "High-Life"

If you, like me, have walked with the Lord for any length of time, you no doubt know firsthand what it is like to revel in His glory. We truly enter into a high-life that compares to nothing else we've known before. It isn't that we enter into a "pie in the sky" life, but into a relationship that is so overwhelming it has the ability to change how we view our world, our problems, and those around us.
And....if you've walked with the Lord for any length of time, you also know what it's like to walk away. I don't know what it is about me but I have a tendency to want to create a "high-life" of my own. Every time I do, I always end up in a place I never intended to be. That place is always worse and I end up getting hurt and hurting others. It is like exchanging the freedom I have in Christ for the chain, muzzle, and leash ensemble of enslavement. My pursuit of a "high-life" of my own making turns me into a low-life every time.
I often wonder why I have a bent toward chains. Christ went through so much, endured so much, and conquered so much for my complete freedom. He wants me to experience the reality of a high-life only He can offer and I still want to create one of my own. Perhaps it's because I lived in chains so long they became habit....sometimes it's easier to deal with what you know than change everything you think about or do. Maybe His freedom just simply scares me. I don't understand it and I certainly don't deserve it. Why is it we humans always feel that the good we receive we have to earn? Maybe I simply tend to shy away from something freely given because the skeptic in me always thinks there's a catch, a fine print, a hook.
There is one thing about me I know. I'm selfish. I want to be in control of my own destiny. From that I think perhaps my leaning toward creating my own "high-life".
Paul addressed this in his letter to the church in Galatia. After coming into Christ's freedom, they were being duped into following the law. So they placed the Christ, who utterly saves, in a cage in order to follow the law that had no power to save at all. Paul, in a word, called this crazy! I identify with the church in Galatia though.....following Christ and walking in his unmerited freedom was less familiar than living out a faith they could control by observing and attempting to keep the law.
If you have never strayed from your beloved freedom in Christ in pursuit of going your own way; if you have never selfishly and foolishly attempted to create your own "high-life", the following is not for you. If you identify with what I am referring to here, then read on.
This is my first stab at rhyme. After reading, you may ask me to never "busta' rhyme" again. I do hope you get the message....I simply thank my God He never leaves or gives up on me, even when I try to put Him in a cage so I may trail off and ultimately fail in creating my own "high-life".

Lion in a Cage

Placed Him in a cage deep within,

Had to walk my own way, live in sin again.

A life of separation, isolation, and despair,

Thinking of the "high-life" being just around the corner, but always there.

I have a Lion in a cage deep inside of me,

Pacing the floor, wants to take control and break free.

Pushing and pressing against the bars,

He weeps over my selfish stupor, wants to overtake and heal my scars.

Now neck deep in the stench of my choices,

The "high-life" is still around the corner, I can hear its voices.

Blind to my situation, in a pit, unaware of my desperation,

Pressing forward to selling myself away,

wrapped in chains never again to see a free day.

I have a Lion in a cage deep inside of me,

Pacing the floor, wants to take control and break free.

Pushing and pressing against the bars,

He weeps over my selfish stupor, wants to overtake and heal my scars.

Captive now to what I hate, never dreamed of such a fate.

A puppet on a string, a slave to everything.

No freedom, no joy, no power,

Losing myself to the "high-life" by the minute, by the hour.

I have a Lion in a cage deep inside of me,

Pacing the floor, wants to take control and break free.

Pushing and pressing against the bars,

He weeps over my selfish stupor, wants to overtake and heal my scars.

Where am I?, Who am I?...wanted life on the high,

Exchanged His truth for a lie and the life around the corner has passed me by.

Stuck in the mud at the bottom of this pit I'm in,

How could I walk away and choose a life of sin again?

I have a Lion in a cage deep inside of me,

Pacing the floor, wants to take control and break free.

Pushing and pressing against the bars,

He weeps over my selfish stupor, wants to overtake and heal my scars.

Gonna set this Lion loose inside of me, free to roam every part,

even into the dark corners of my heart.

Gonna set this Lion loose, from around my neck remove this noose.

Make me the me He wants me to be,

Fill me with His power and roar, to go my own way again nevermore.

I have a Lion in a cage deep inside of me,

Pacing the floor, wants to take control and break free.

Pushing and pressing against the bars,

He weeps over my selfish stupor, wants to overtake and heal my scars.

Well...hope and pray you will choose to live His high-life. It is the only one that's real. Blessings....Richard