If you’re a cradle Christian like me, you would relate when I say that FOMO is not a foreign feeling.

As children, we were told to stay away from Pokémon, Digimon and Harry Potter while our classmates were trading cards and pretending to cast spells. Discernment is what our elders urge us to have.

And as youths, we were advised to stay away from alcohol and clubs even as our friends were into all these things and our tertiary institutions implicitly encouraged the party culture by holding social events there. Self-control is the fruit that is preached to us.

But, facing all these recommendations and restrictions, have we truly “missed out”?

For many of us, the truthful answer would likely be both a yes and a no.

We want to have the best of both worlds, to have our cake and be able to eat it too. To call ourselves Christian and hunger after the things of God – while still gorging ourselves on worldly things.

I know I do. And it doesn’t even have to be a huge, public struggle of wanting to serve in church but also wanting to go to the club – there are compromises aplenty in daily life.

“Doing this doesn’t make me any further from God!”

It can be as simple as wanting to watch a horror movie or swear when things aren’t going right. I admit that sometimes I attempt to reason my way out: “Doing this doesn’t make me any further from God!”

But while some of these decisions may not take us further from God, they don’t take us any closer to Him. And if we’re not clinging on to God, we’re drifting away.

Frightened to death: The high cost of horror films

So what kind of fear do we have when it comes to our faith?

Many of us fear missing out on worldly things, but perhaps a better fear to have is a fear of missing out on the things of God.

The Bible is clear that pursuing God demands a singleminded focus on Him. But eternal life and the treasures of heaven (Matthew 6:19-21) await the one who has fought well in this life.

What would life look like if we began to lay aside every weight and sin (Hebrews 12:1) to run the heavenward race of endurance?

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Let’s fear missing out on a life lived all for Him.