The Paths of our Lives

All of us are on a path in life. This is certainly the case in our walk with God. That walk starts with some small step toward Him which leads us to take additional steps toward Him. Each step we take gives us the courage and strength and faith to take another further step in our followership of Him.

Growth in our followership of Jesus does not all happen at once. In fact, there is a profound verse in Proverbs that describes this process. The path of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn, shining ever brighter till the full light of day (Proverbs 4:16).

I love the first gleam of dawn. You know that a new day is arriving. In the darkness there is a glimmer of light after the darkness of night. Think about the first time you chose to move closer to God. What was the first step you took? What was it that prompted you to take that first step? How did it feel to let go of your own life and choose His life over yours? What stirred in your heart as you took what was a real step of faith. What was it like to take that first step toward him? Why did you choose to do so?

In taking that step of faith you started down a path of followership, but where we started is not where God wants us to end. He wants us to walk down a path that shines every brighter till the full light of day. That is a beautiful description of growth in our spiritual lives. It starts small, like the first glimmer of dawn and keeps getting brighter till it is like the full light of day. That is God’s vision for our lives. It is not static but growing and expanding and getting ever larger.

What is the key to moving from that first glimmer to the full light of day spiritually? Simply put, it is that we follow Him more closely each day. That we delight in His presence more regularly, take greater risks of faith and obedience and are even willing to change our lives to bring them into conformity with His. Each new step takes us from the first light of dawn to a place of greater light.

None of this happens overnight. And that is the point of the writer of this Proverb. In fact there is something deeply beautiful about that first step of faith and obedience we take toward Jesus, no matter how small. It is like the first glimmer of light in the morning that promises a new day. That first step, no matter how small, is something to celebrate.

But even more beautiful is each step we take after that first step because our lives move from a glimmer of God to the full light of God as we choose a long obedience in the same direction. Those who keep pressing forward and go deeper in their love and followership of Jesus shine like the full brightness of the day.

That is what I want and I suspect that is what you want. Let's go from the glimmer to the full light - a little more each day as we press forward in loving Jesus and allowing Him to transform our lives. It is a beautiful path. Not always easy but beautiful.

Father: Thank you for this beautiful picture of my own life. Help me to follow you closer each day so that I move from that first step of followership to a deeper and deeper followership. From the first glimmer of a new day to the full light of day. Amen

A word that has always bothered me

It has always made me wonder when I read a certain word in the New Testament. About God, I understand the meaning of the word. About you and me, especially me, I don’t. That word is “saint.” 

In Philippians, 1:1, Paul opens his letter to the church at Philippi with the words, “To all the saints in Christ Jesus at Philippi.” In his letter to the Colossians, he says, “We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all the saints.” In Ephesians 1:1, he writes, “Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God. To the saints in Ephesus, the faithful in Christ Jesus.”

The very thought that I am a saint makes me feel uncomfortable because I know me. I know the broken, messed up version of myself, some of which others see and some that I alone see. In either case, I don’t deserve the title “saint,” but there it is in plain sight as Paul writes to the churches. He calls God’s people saints. 

The word “saint” is hagios in Greek and it means “different, otherness or holy.” It also means “set apart”. God is hagios, something we understand, but us? Here is the reason that Paul refers to us as saints. Listen to his words in 1 Corinthians 2. “To the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be holy, together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ - their Lord and ours.”

There are two things that stand out here. First, when we come to salvation in Christ and make Him Lord of our lives, he sanctifies us. He cleanses us, wiping away our sins of the past and making us new creatures. And then, He calls us to be holy, to be set apart, to be like Him in our character and our life. So there is the reality of His divine work in our life and then there is the call, on the basis of that gift of cleansing and renewal, to become like Him.  Remember that hagios means otherness. We are different because of His work in our hearts and we in turn are called to live differently. In the words of Paul, we are “called to be holy, together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

We are not sinless but we are called to sin less. We are called to become more and more like the Lord Jesus who saved us. Through the help of the Holy Spirit this is possible because that Holy Spirit is God who dwells in us. Therefore Paul says in Ephesians 4:1, “As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received.” Wow. He says later in Ephesians 5:1-2, “Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.”

In those words we see the key to living like a saint. It’s very simple. We imitate God. We live a life of love toward Him and others just as He did toward us. We bring our attitudes, words, thoughts and actions into alignment with His. We are saints by definition. And we are called to live as saints by imitating him.

“Father. Thank you for the work you have done in my heart and life. You have made me a saint, one set apart for yourself. Today, help me to imitate you so that I also live like a saint. Amen”