Learning to Walk

I have a friend named Kevin Jones. Until recently, Kevin and I had worked together over the past several years. Kevin and I would occasionally have what I will call philosophical conversations. During one of these conversations Kevin said something to me I do not think I will ever forget. I have a teenage son and I was venting to Kevin about poor decisions my son had made. Kevin compared growing up to learning to walk. He said at some point in every young person’s life they decide they are going to make their own decisions. The young person may be twelve or thirteen, or perhaps sixteen, eighteen, twenty or maybe even a little older. Much like when they first learn to walk this young person has little or no prior experience in making decisions on their own. Therefore they stumble, fall, run into things, and even hurt themselves or others standing near them. Taking this concept further, I realize this often applies to our decision to follow Christ. Crossing the line of faith is a momentous occasion. It is the most important moment in anyone’s life. The new believer is often over come with emotion, sometimes to the point of fanaticism. He is anxious to hit the world and tell them all about Jesus; to get everybody saved. It is in this state of euphoria he can fail to assess his own inexperience and lack of knowledge. Because he has not yet had enough time to develop his walk with Jesus, he instead winds up projecting his own values and life experiences on others all in the name of God. This is not exclusive to the new believer. Much like walking, even after we think we have mastered it and sometimes because we are so sure have mastered it, we take our eyes off of where we are walking. In doing so we can stumble and even fall, hurting ourselves or those around us.

At Peace

Sitting on my back porch I had a revelation. For a moment I am at peace with God and at peace with who I am. Now, mind you, I am not always in such a state. In fact I rarely am. I am certainly not claiming to be a spiritual superman. Knowing who I am, the only logical conclusion is it has nothing to do with how good of a Christian I have become. It has nothing to do with the way I have overcome sin and "allowed" God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit to direct me. It has nothing to do with anything I do right or, for that matter, anything I do wrong. It has nothing to do with how great my doctrine is or my knowledge of biblical matters. It has nothing to do with how many people I have lead in the prayer of salvation or how many tracts I have handed out. It has nothing to do with my high level of morality, my superior politics, or the way I reconcile the two. In the end it has nothing to do with anything I have done or anything I am yet to do. It has everything to do with what Jesus did on the cross. His greatness supersedes my need to be good and to do good, for really who is good? Only when I realize this do I know true peace. Only then am I free of guilt and condemnation. I am grateful tonight for a brief moment of clarity. His greatness is constant; it is me who is not. Thankfully, because of Him and His sacrifice I need not be. May all that I do that is considered to be good glorify the only One Who is truly good.