*John 16:12–15 12 “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. 13 When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. 14 He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. 15 All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.
How many of you know how to drive? Most of you probably don’t know how to do it yet. You may think you know everything that there is to know about it, but until you actually get behind the wheel of a car, you only have theories.
My Dad is a pretty intense driving instructor. We would be out on the road and he would be pointing out all sorts of things that I was missing. Not necessarily in a harsh way, but in an urgent manner that was meant to get my attention.
After all, when you are driving you have your life and the lives of everyone in the car on your shoulders. If you decide not to pay attention, you could be the reason that someone gets hurt.
The things that my Dad would call my attention to were not always life threatening. “Your turn signal is still blinking. This guy is about to cut you off. You just cut that guy off… Stay in your lane…”
The point is that it takes a while for you to learn the ins and outs of driving. That is why they require that you have so many hours of time behind the wheel with someone overseeing before you get your license.
I tell you what, the first time you are out driving by yourself can be intense. You suddenly are aware that your Mom/Dad/driving instructor is not there to point things out to you. You are on your own. My brain went into overdrive as I tried to make sure that I was paying attention to every possible little thing.
Driving is not the only thing that has a learning curve. What are some other examples?
It takes time to get to where you want to be. Many of us want to be different than we are. Sometimes we just don’t know how to get there. So we look around us and wonder, “How did he get such a great physique? How did she lose 20 pounds? How does he have so much money? How does she seem to win at everything?”
What about spiritually? How do you do the things you think a Christian should do? How do you read the Bible? How do you pray when you have a hard time focusing on anything for more than five minutes? How do you become like Jesus Christ when you feel so far from that ideal? How do you get from where you are to where you want to be?
It seems a little overwhelming, doesn’t it? Does Jesus really expect you to be leaps ahead of where you are? Not exactly. Do you remember when you first learned to swim? Can you imagine if instead of spending a few summers in those floatie armbands and going to swimming lessons in the shallow end, your parents just dropped you off at the pool and told you to swim? You might know your end goal, but you wouldn’t know where to begin.
With all the things we feel like we should do or be, sometimes it seems like when we read Jesus’ words, He has given us the end goal without telling us how to get there. For example, we can all agree that it would be nice to live at peace with all people, but what is the first step in getting there? Jesus’ instructions may seem like huge leaps, but they all begin with one small step. Sometimes, if we are really honest, we just don’t know how to even begin. We don’t know what they first step looks like.
The good news is that we don’t have to have all the answers. The Bible says when we decide to accept Jesus’ free gift of salvation, when we acknowledge that we are sinful and need a Savior, and that Jesus is that Savior, the Holy Spirit moves into our lives. Just like I needed an instructor to help me recognize the steps I need to take so I can drive, God has given us a spiritual instructor. The Spirit teaches us how to live our lives in a step-by-step process, so that we can reach the goals God has set for us.
Jesus said: “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth” (John 16:13). When Jesus was talking to His disciples about the Spirit, He was talking to them after the resurrection. They knew that they had a message to tell the world, and I’m sure they had no idea how they were going to do it. But Jesus told them the first step--listen to the guide. Listen to the Holy Spirit that will come and guide you.
The Holy Spirit is the helper who lives inside each follower of Christ. The Holy Spirit leads us into the truth of who we are. He leads us into the truth of who God is. He leads into the truth of our sinfulness. He leads into the truth of who we can become. The Holy Spirit is the One who helps us take steps to become more like Jesus. With the Holy Spirit, Jesus doesn’t say to us, “Sink or swim.” Instead He says, “You’re valuable. You’re mine. You don’t have to live this life alone. I’m with you.”
Jesus knew that when He asked His followers to love their enemies, He was asking for really big steps. He knew that trying to do it all on our own would be like leaping across the Grand Canyon. Leaping on your own, well, the end result isn’t going to be very pretty. That’s why He sent an instructor. And the Holy Spirit isn’t just a tool or a guide; He is part of God the Father and Son. God lives inside us.
Sounds nice, doesn’t it? But nothing is ever mere words with Jesus. He brings words to life. The Holy Spirit doesn’t just help us; He is at work to transform us. In the Old Testament, God described Himself to Moses as “the LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin” (Exodus 34:6-7). And those traits show up in the ways the Holy Spirit interacts with us. We read a Bible verse, hear someone teaching, read a book or just see something within ourselves that surprises us, and it makes us realize that there is an area of our lives that is quite ugly--some area where we’re miles away from God, some part of our lives where we’re not aligned with Him. Then we have a choice. We can take a step to change--to act or think in a way that is more like Jesus, or we can just stay ugly on the inside.
But here’s the part most of us don’t quite get. This process happens for the entire remainder of our lives. It’s why people use words like journey or walk to talk about their relationship with God--because we never arrive at perfection while we walk this earth. There’s never a point where we have it all together. You could solve the problem you have now, the thing you don’t like about yourself or some action you want to change, but there will be another one behind it. And another one behind that. That’s how messed up we all are.
It’s why when you meet someone who has been passionately following Christ for most of his or her life, that person doesn’t seem arrogant or unapproachable because they have achieved some great spiritual level of holiness. Those individuals understand just how gracious and merciful God is because they have seen time and time again how huge their sin is, and how amazing God’s forgiveness and love are as well.
You may expect your life to look very different when you are thirty than it does today, but you won’t become that different person by making leaps. Jesus knows it takes steps for you to arrive at that point you desire--and He wants you to go to that point and beyond. And every step will look different. Sometimes you’ll move forward quickly; other times you’ll feel like you’re in slow motion. And then there will be times when you are simply standing still waiting to move. God knows where you need to go, and where He’s leading you personally may look different from those around you. Every step gives you the strength and faith to take the next one. You can look back and see that the God who brought you this far can continue to lead you forward.
Right now you have to ask yourself two fundamental questions. One--are you willing to take the step forward? And two--what type of step are you willing to take? If you step letting the Spirit guide you, then you will be transformed more into God’s image.
Take a step forward today. God doesn’t expect perfection. He doesn’t expect you to instantly arrive at some point that would require a huge leap. You may not have the kind of relationship with God that others have, but your relationship with Him is personal and real, a relationship that grows step by step.
No comments:
Post a Comment