Keepin 'er out of the ditch

I have claimed to be a Jesus' follower most of my life. There was a season there between ages 12-16 or so that were pretty rough for me. I don't really know what banner to hang over those years... but, I was pretty much all about myself and what was gonna get me through. Along the way there have been some mile markers. One of those for me was discovering I John 2:6; "If anyone claimed to live in him, they must walk as Jesus did." Hey, I have found that living like Jesus is intense for sure. He is absolutely the most interesting person I have ever encountered. Following Him has caused me to turn over just about every slimy rock in the landscape of my life. He is after total authenticity and that scares the "____" out of me many times. But, he is also after filling me with purpose and giving me an amazing missional life. He wants my life to glow with purpose and meaning. Investing my life in whatever His agenda in my world is every day is an adventure like no other. Life should really come with a warning label though... Warning: there is a subsitute that religion offers us that is a poisonous counterfeit. It is called "anxious striving". I have experienced that there is a difference between fully engaged missional living and a life of anxiously striving to get all the supposed "important" stuff done. God is definitely not about anxiety and striving to be a great person. If life is a highway I wanna keep 'er out of the ditch. Jesus, you managed to keep your life on the road and out of the ditches. Please lead me to be able to run at the speed you set for me and to have courage enough to boot religious "anxious striving" out of my life for good.