Selfish People

The concept of chasing something after it has gone away reflects a value of selfishness.  This can be applied to almost any present day situation where we take something for granted and fail to appreciate its true value.  For example, in a crowded office, the employees may enjoy the water cooler.  They socialize around it and use it to quench their thirsts.  Never once does an employee check to make sure the tubes are clean or the large bottle installed properly.  But, the day the water cooler breaks or is removed, the employees that once enjoyed its benefits are advocating for its return.  They work so hard for something they have always thought a standard commodity. The same day that it is gone, employees are lined up outside of the boss's office and contacting worker's unions, all in an attempt to get back what they cherished the most.  But even when the water cooler is returned, the employees make take extra special care of it for a little while until it becomes that standard commodity with absolutely no special characteristics and no special veneration by its users.
In a similar vein we have the Universal Call to Holiness.  Through this call to live as Jesus did, we are asked to devote ourselves to charity.  Through the simple, yet strong, act of loving we build ourselves a close bond with God through faith.  Only once we do what is asked of us, can we ask for stuff in return.  There are many people that think of prayer as an "ATM."  The only time they say prayers is when they need to make a withdrawal.  Often times this withdrawal is the direct result of having something taken away from them or being overcome with greed and lust, like the employees' water cooler.  These people take God for granted, pay him no mind during their life until something goes wrong that they need fixed.
We are called to live a life of holiness.  That is what the Universal Call to Holiness is about, living a life of love and devotion to God.  If we only ever pray when we need something then our faith is a false curtain to our true beliefs.  However, if we are reverent and thank God everyday and show acts of kindness to the least of us, then we are in a position to ask for God's divine light.  And we are most likely to receive an answer to our prayers.  He would be more willing to accept the most complex prayer from His most devout follower over the simplest prayer of a convenience-believer.
In order to say who Christ is without shame means we have no hesitations or limitations in announcing our beliefs.  Part of Christ's message is to preach the good word to others.  If we live the holiest life ever known to man but deny all of our pious devotion every time we are asked about our faith, then we are not living as He would like us to, at all.  We can no longer say that we truly and faithfully believe in Christ if we cannot tell our neighbors that.