A Thought

“This life is not righteousness, but growth in righteousness; not health, but healing; not being, but becoming; not rest, but exercise.  We are not yet what we shall be, but we are growing towards it.  The process is not yet finished, but it is going on.  This is not the end, but it is the road.  All does not yet gleam in glory, but all is being purified.”  Martin Luther

Lord help all who would actually reach a point in spiritual development in which we declare it is “done”, that we’ve finished, and that because of Jesus’ death there is nothing more we need do.  Yes, there are accounts in which Jesus declares upon the cross, “It is finished”, but this says more about what Jesus accomplished Himself.  If it were truly “finished” at that point, what need do we have of the Church?

It is better, I think, that we embrace humility in all its glory and submission because it is in a humble state of mind and being in which we are still willing to admit our need for The Lord.  Many of the Church’s problems seem to stem from the many who have somehow convinced themselves they have it all figured out, that they’re “good”.  Jesus, however, has clearly stated, “There is only One who is ‘good’”.

The writer of the Letter to the Hebrews encourages his reading audience to “leave the discussion of the elementary principles of Christ [and] go on to perfection”, but he never suggests we will ever reach that goal; at least, not in this lifetime.  But to grow, to pray, to discover, and to serve one another is the life we are all called to lead until our last breath. 

That our Lord “finished” only suggests we’ve only really begun.  Pray we never come to think we’ve “finished”.

Blessings,

Michael