ARE WE THERE YET?

Anytime a family goes on a trip of over five minutes long, the kids usually begin their never-ending questioning:  "Are we there yet?"  It is so common that adults often ask the same question of a driver, just to be funny.  I honestly don't remember my kids asking that, nor do I remember me or my siblings doing so, but it probably happened, as the sit-coms' use of the "joke" seems very familiar.

The Christian life is sort of like a long journey, as well, and from time to time, born again believers ask their Father, "are we there yet?"  Of course, if we are asking that question, the answer is no.  But like any long trip, there are markers along the way that let us know how far we have travelled, and how much farther we have yet to go.  However, there is one ironic difference:  the longer a born again believer lives his or her life-long spiritual journey, our indicators often seem to be telling us that we are either off the right way, or that we are driving in reverse!

The newborn believer begins pure and clean and as righteous and holy as is Jesus.  We have received the Lord's righteousness:  "For He (our heavenly Father) hath made Him (Jesus, our Lord and Savior) to be sin for us, (Jesus) who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him" (2 Cor. 5:21).  We, excited as a child on Christmas morning, have received God's gift of salvation (Eph. 2:8), and we have been adopted as God's child (Rom. 8:15); and we have been sealed (having God's stamp identifying us as His child) by the Holy Spirit (Eph. 1:13; 4:30).  And so, the journey begins!

It is not long before we realize that following Jesus is not as easy as one would imagine.  For one thing, like all children, we are distracted by things and people around us; we take our eyes off of Jesus for a split second, and when we look back up, He has "disappeared over a next hill."  The distractions are described in the Parable of the Sower (Mt. 13:22).  There are also times when the "path" seems to be too difficult to trod; it is not easy (Mt. 13:21).  But like the loving Lord that He is, He left us a few "breadcrumbs" to mark His path:  the Bible!  And, we also have an "inner compass" to get us back on tract (the Holy Spirit dwelling within us (Jn. 14:17).

The longer I have been a believer/follower of Christ, the more the "bread crumbs" reveal how unlike Jesus I am!  My nature and His nature are far from being the same.  And yet, this knowledge increases my awareness that my salvation if by the grace of God, and not because I deserve it!  And that knowledge causes me to love my Father, my Savior, and my inner Sealer/Guide!  The road is named GRACE!

 

I long for the day I arrive at my destination:  the City of Christlikeness!  (1Jn. 3:2)