Jesus did not call us to destroy us but to save us.

Faith, make no mistake, is a spiritual exercise. The scripture reminds us of such when it says,

“For through the Spirit, by faith, we ourselves eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness. (Galatians 5: 5).”

Think with me for a minute. Faith outside of the spirit is not faith at all, but just a strong desire, or a foolish commitment, an act in futility. But it is not faith. Wish all you want to become righteous, but you never will, until you eagerly make a conscious effort to wait through the Spirit for the hope of righteousness.

Righteousness, as such, is initially passive and then only afterwards active. First, we must wait. Righteousness is first infused, before it is then effused. Yes, we are the light of the world, an effusion for all to see; but only after the Holy Spirit has ignited a fire within us, burning out all the dross. That’s the painful part. The waiting part. It is, however, cleansing, and absolutely necessary if He is to fulfill His purpose in us. 

The trajectory of our life always points to Jesus. Our reason for being. The perfect paradigm for our life. Not just any Jesus, however, but the Jesus of Golgotha—the Jesus of the Cross.

We are, therefore, to take up our cross daily, and follow Him. Which is to say, to follow Jesus means sacrifice. It means self-denial. To follow Jesus means that the life that we live is no longer ours, but His. Paul wrote long ago,

“I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me (Galatians 2:20 NIV).”

This new life—the new birth, if you please—is not something which you attain, or achieve; it is something for which you must wait. Such righteousness is a labor of love, not law. An act of surrender which envelopes you into the arms of Christ the Great Shepherd and Guardian of our souls (I Peter 2:25).

Jesus said,

“My sheep listen to My voice; I know them, and they follow Me (John 10:27).”

Others, those who refused to believe, He declared, were not His sheep. That, my friend is a stern statement; none-the-less, these are His words not mine. Thus, we can say without fear of contradiction, that if one does not follow Christ—that is acknowledge Him, in all His ways, one can never expect Christ to direct their paths (Proverbs 3:6). This is to say that to be a follower of Jesus is not a part-time vocation, but rather a lifetime of commitment.

Commitment can be lonely, especially when you must wait for God to work the miracle of righteousness in your life. This we call the process of sanctification. It is the obedient surrender to God’s promise which says,

“Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, "This is the way; walk in it (Isaiah 30:21).”

To wait, will mean a time of deep reflection, of self-examination. For most it will be an agonizing silence of becoming—thus, we must take up our cross and follow Him daily (Luke 23:23) since such transformation does not take place in a day, or a week, but over a lifetime. It is a daily walk. Waiting doesn’t necessarily mean that we sit still. One can walk and wait as well. It does, however, mean that we are committed to a life of sacrifice, as He was, also.

It’s a tough commitment; yet, Jesus did not call us to destroy us but to save us. May God give us the patience and the perseverance to wait, even while we walk. Tortuous paths may lie before us; yet, there is no turning back, for He has said, “This is the way, walk in it.”

In all my years of walking and waiting, I have never met a solitary saint—all have been actively involved, busy doing God’s work, while they wait. So, to become like Christ is not an invitation to join a monastic convent to hole up somewhere until righteousness comes. Righteousness has already come. Our task is to invite the fulness of Christ into our lives, and acknowledge Him in all our ways, and He will make our paths straight (Proverbs 3:6). That is to say, we will walk where He walks, talk as He talks, suffer as He suffered, and in general be Christlike. This is so important because the Scripture does say, “Without holiness, no man shall see God (Hebrews 12:14).”

We must never forget that as believers, who have been born from on high, that we are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness, and redemption (1 Corinthians 1:30). Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need (Hebrews 4:16 NKJV).

So, now, we may, therefore,

“Arise, shine; for our light has come, [for] the glory of the LORD has risen upon us (Isaiah 60:1).”

Once again be blessed; better yet, bless others,

JimR/-