From page A to page Z
All of us have at one time or another had a vision of ourselves as we would like to be. It may be in a quiet moment, it may be while day dreaming, while mowing the yard or sitting in school. We have all played out a story in our minds in which we were every bit the person we want to be. Unfortunately, very often our thoughts then turn to the person that we are, right now, in reality, and we see a vision that is not so pleasant. We see a person who is flawed, with bad habits, undesirable characteristics, and a life with hidden and recurring sins.
Though many have thought about the differences, few have taken the time take a pen to paper and write down their vision of themselves now and their vision of themselves for the future. If they did, they might be able to determine what it is about them that they would like to change. They might more easily be able to determine what their strengths and weaknesses are. They may find that the differences are quite significant or they may find that there is really not that far to go. Either way, they would be one step closer to actually being the person of their vision, rather than simply wishing it.
If we do make it so far as to write down and analyze the differences between ourselves and our potential, usually we are in the unhappy situation of determining that getting from page A (where we are) to page B (where we want to be tomorrow) is just about insurmountable, let alone getting to page Z (our ultimate vision of ourselves...Christ like?). It is therefore quite often the case that at about this point we will close our journals, scrunch up our paper, throw down our pen, and busy ourselves with something meaningless but distracting. "Perhaps I won't think of it again for a few weeks..."
The trouble is that we are quite right to think that it is impossible to get from page A to page Z. We are fallen, corrupted, imperfect, damaged and incapable of self-correction. No matter how hard we try, no matter how hard we exert our own will, the result will always be a wretched state. When the imperfect is put to work it invariably produces imperfect results.
Righteousness is very much like a tree with the potential to produce a great deal of fruit. A farmer might plow an area of soil, he might weed, fertilize and water, but once he plants the seed he can do little more. All that the farmer can do is wait and hope that the seed will grow. He can continue to water, weed and fertilize, but he has no ability to make the seed grow, that comes from God.
God has already planted a seed of righteousness in us. He does so when we take on his Son. Unfortunately, we do not immediately become the most receptive soil. In fact, it is not simply a matter of time before we become such soil. We probably start out pretty barren, hard and unaccommodating for the seed of righteousness and if we do not take steps, like the farmer, to turn our soil into a welcoming place for that seed, it will remain nothing more than a seed.
Our job then is not to turn our pages from A to Z. Our job is not through force of will to change from imperfect to perfect (as if we could). No! Our job is to tend our soil, to make a place in our hearts and minds where the seeds of God's righteousness have an opportunity for growth. Then we will gradually see, like the growth of a tree, the changes from the vision of now to the vision of Christ.
Now we say "what a wretched man I am!", then we will say, "thanks be to God-through Jesus Christ our Lord!"
How do we go about tending our soil? That is where the Spiritual Disciplines come in...
Though many have thought about the differences, few have taken the time take a pen to paper and write down their vision of themselves now and their vision of themselves for the future. If they did, they might be able to determine what it is about them that they would like to change. They might more easily be able to determine what their strengths and weaknesses are. They may find that the differences are quite significant or they may find that there is really not that far to go. Either way, they would be one step closer to actually being the person of their vision, rather than simply wishing it.
If we do make it so far as to write down and analyze the differences between ourselves and our potential, usually we are in the unhappy situation of determining that getting from page A (where we are) to page B (where we want to be tomorrow) is just about insurmountable, let alone getting to page Z (our ultimate vision of ourselves...Christ like?). It is therefore quite often the case that at about this point we will close our journals, scrunch up our paper, throw down our pen, and busy ourselves with something meaningless but distracting. "Perhaps I won't think of it again for a few weeks..."
The trouble is that we are quite right to think that it is impossible to get from page A to page Z. We are fallen, corrupted, imperfect, damaged and incapable of self-correction. No matter how hard we try, no matter how hard we exert our own will, the result will always be a wretched state. When the imperfect is put to work it invariably produces imperfect results.
"So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God's law; but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?" Rom 7:21-24Paul appreciated that righteousness comes from God in all ways. Both in terms of an objective righteousness (that God forgives our sins and does not see their stains on us because of the blood of Christ) and in and in terms of a subjective righteousness (that the sinful nature within us is put away and is replaced with the righteous nature of God). He appreciated that even the most dedicated man being broken as a result of sin cannot escape sin on his own, neither the results of sin nor the commission of sin. It is God that provides a way out of the Devil's temptations (1 Cor 10:13) and God that makes us stand (Rom 14:4).
Righteousness is very much like a tree with the potential to produce a great deal of fruit. A farmer might plow an area of soil, he might weed, fertilize and water, but once he plants the seed he can do little more. All that the farmer can do is wait and hope that the seed will grow. He can continue to water, weed and fertilize, but he has no ability to make the seed grow, that comes from God.
God has already planted a seed of righteousness in us. He does so when we take on his Son. Unfortunately, we do not immediately become the most receptive soil. In fact, it is not simply a matter of time before we become such soil. We probably start out pretty barren, hard and unaccommodating for the seed of righteousness and if we do not take steps, like the farmer, to turn our soil into a welcoming place for that seed, it will remain nothing more than a seed.
Our job then is not to turn our pages from A to Z. Our job is not through force of will to change from imperfect to perfect (as if we could). No! Our job is to tend our soil, to make a place in our hearts and minds where the seeds of God's righteousness have an opportunity for growth. Then we will gradually see, like the growth of a tree, the changes from the vision of now to the vision of Christ.
Now we say "what a wretched man I am!", then we will say, "thanks be to God-through Jesus Christ our Lord!"
How do we go about tending our soil? That is where the Spiritual Disciplines come in...
posted by Christopher Malan at 1:13 PM
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