We’re wrapping up our GPS-themed study through the book of James this weekend at Calvary. It’s been a pretty in-depth look at some of the ways that God recalculates our paths, and our hearts. As I’ve tried to listen to the Lord speak to my heart over the past weeks (months) some of the things he’s spoken have been gentle and easy to handle; other things have been more difficult to process.
It seems like everything has been on the list to be recalculated this summer. Kim and I have prayed a lot about our adoption process, the way we parent, my job/role at Calvary, individual attitudes and patterns of living, even the town we live in! We’re making some changes in certain arenas, and finding that some of the things are staying the same (like our address! That was a biggie!)
I don’t know who said it, but the one thing that stays the same is CHANGE. That’s true for all of us, and should be as we follow Jesus. I want to be growing closer to him, and more like him all the time. I want to be more loving, more gracious, more generous…I want my life to reflect Jesus more and more. The only way that can happen is for me to change. The big church word for this is SANCTIFICATION.
There are a few layers to this sanctification, or being made holy. In one sense, the work of God has been done in my life. God says that if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come (2 Corinthians 5:17). At the same time, there’s the truth that we are all works in progress, growing in faith and learning to live in the freedom that Christ promises us. Our lives should be moving toward alignment with him all the time as we learn to follow his way of life. And yet there’s still the truth that we won’t be fully like him (holy, completely transformed) until Jesus returns for us and finalizes that transformation.
For me, the bottom line is that I want to be transformed. I want to have my life in its entirety completely submitted to Jesus. So I wait in hope, applying what I know, asking God to work in me, to teach me and re-shape my values every day. And that’s a good thing…
1 Comment
Dave Wertheim · September 2, 2009 at 6:44 pm
Stacy,
Loved your perspective on recalculating my life. I’ve spent 22 years on the same road (and still going, Lord willing). God impressed me so much with this message that I’ve recently published a book, Men U: Courses for a Transformed Life where I provide practical guidance for men (mostly, but women have also benefited from it) describing what it looks like to live for Jesus in the day-to-day. One of my key thoughts is “With Christ, everyone can live a transformed life by choosing God-honoring responses to everyday situations.” The key is training better to respond in a godly way to to those situations.