Good Sunday morning! In Christ we pray earnestly for the people in the Caribbean and U.S. Gulf coast areas as the effects of Hurricane Gustav are felt. Today there are evacuations going on and people we love are enduring the upset and anxiety of yet another major hurricane.
Improving in the Light
Should we improve ourselves or simply step back and wait for the Holy Spirit to do the work? Today I thought, or it came to me, that our lives are big diamonds. Imagine that God is cutting out a big diamond from a lump of clay. When we are born again, God pulls out a big lump of clay from the mud that is this world. Inside that lump is a fabulous diamond. However, that diamond is not finished. We will not be finished into the perfect, fully-reflective image of God until we see Jesus at the end. In the meantime, our life moves along and God, the ultimate craftsman, is chipping away the dirt, filth, and clay of our former life. How does that relate to improving our self? I believe that God gives us a polishing cloth. Throughout our lives on this earth, we are to take that polishing cloth and get to work. The progress of our polishing is painfully slow. As we look at the facet of the diamond that God gives us to work on, we cannot help but see all that is wrong with it. The areas of our own life that each of us has been given to work on look very rough right now. However, God works on a different schedule than what our watch or calendar says. How often have you started out to lose weight, and a few days later looked at the calendar and asked, "Where's the progress?" It may take years for you to get down to a healthy weight, but keep on moving that polishing cloth, keep working at the task at hand. In God's perfect time, as long as we keep working on that polishing, we will see the result that God desires in our lives. Patience in effort is one of the more difficult things to learn in the Christian life. Yes, God could bring out the beautiful diamond immediately upon salvation with all facets polished to mirror brightness and the image of God completely revealed in our life. The world probably couldn't stand that person, much of it wanted Jesus gone right from the start of his ministry. Be grateful for the long, slow and perfect change that God makes in each of our lives. We are along for that ride and the destination is the very best place!
Have a happy and joyous Sunday in Christ!
Bucky
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