Tuesday, December 11, 2018

Next Steps

Tuesday, December 11, 2018

By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life.  We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence.  And because of his glory and excellence, he has given us great and precious promises.  These are the promises that enable you to share his divine nature and escape the world’s corruption caused by human desires.  In view of all this, make every effort to respond to God’s promises.  Supplement your faith with a generous provision of moral excellence, and moral excellence with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with patient endurance, and patient endurance with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love for everyone.  2 Peter 1:3-7(NLT)

Just like babies climb even a small series of steps, babes in Christ must also ascend.  It isn’t easy to step-up, but growing up in Christ by responding to God’s promises is vital; it’s what makes us useful tools in God’s hands.  And, in the long view, growing-up is what fits our character.  It is natural for babies to stretch and discover how to roll-over.  They stand and wobble as toddlers, falling many times before learning to walk.  They crash and burn learning to ride a two-wheeler.  They venture into social circles at school and learn puppy love can hurt.  We grow, love, hate, learn, and repeat.  We are human.
As spiritual beings this cycle also is familiar.  Peter, the big fisherman, understood spiritual things better than most.  In today’s reading we see him painting the broad stroke first, that God has given us everything we need to grow up and live godly lives.  And then he re-covers the canvass with the detail strokes of how to approach the pattern of next-steps. 
This is where many believers stumble.  We get the erroneous idea that steps are always upward.  In the life of one who is learning, pointed at becoming a useful disciple/servant of the Lord Jesus Christ, it is never about stepping-upward; discipleship is all about dust.  In fact, the Greek word for servant is very connected to dust; it’s about one who bows low enough to be close to the ground – low enough to wash feet…just like the Master!
Many people get the idea that “faith” is the be-all, and end-all of the Christian life.  It is true that we walk by faith, but that is an entry-point, not a destination.  We begin with a faith-leap that says I will do things God’s way.  
That leads to a step-downward, (backward, if you will) to the moral excellence of eliminating those things which dishonor God, such as sexual sins, dishonesty, lack of respect, and so-on.  
We step down again, studying the Word of God to gain knowledge, so that the next step-down, of self-control, is informed and intelligent, actually doable and intentional. 
As we continue stepping-into the dust we are confronted with the world’s disapproval of our new life, and are forced to add patient endurance to our repertoire. 
And, suddenly, before we know it Godliness is beginning to emerge in our character, and we find ourselves steeped in affection for our brothers and sisters in Christ, which, at dirt/dust level begins to turn our attention to the rest of the human community; we find ourselves hurting for the rest of God’s created beings.  It’s the kind of hurt that only God’s kind of love understands.
For You Today
Next steps in the Christian life isn’t about standing tall; it’s all about getting down and dusty.  And if the world decides to lift you up, to put you on a cross – you’ll be in good company, disciple of your Master!
You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day.

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[1] Title Image: Courtesy of Pixabay.com

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