I'm Better Now

Have you ever been greeted by the question, "How are you doing today?" and actually thought about the question. Oh that we could push "pause" on life, freezing the frame to take inventory of our life. Could you say that I am not the man that I was only 2 or 3 weeks ago? Is there measurable, observable improvement in your life? Before you dismiss this conversation as psychological mumbo-jumbo, think about these verses from 1 Thessalonians 4:1-8.

1 Finally, brothers, we instructed you how to live in order to please God, as in fact you are living. Now we ask you and urge you in the Lord Jesus to do this more and more. 2 For you know what instructions we gave you by the authority of the Lord Jesus.
3 It is God's will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality; 4 that each of you should learn to control his own body in a way that is holy and honorable, 5 not in passionate lust like the heathen, who do not know God; 6 and that in this matter no one should wrong his brother or take advantage of him. The Lord will punish men for all such sins, as we have already told you and warned you. 7 For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life. 8 Therefore, he who rejects this instruction does not reject man but God, who gives you his Holy Spirit.

We cannot be the same as we were yesterday. There must be progress being made in our spiritual walk. We must be changing and being sanctified. Quite literally, we must be becoming more and more holy, set apart, reserved for God to use, ready for service. We must be "better", stronger, more vibrant, more excited about serving Jesus Christ than we were yesterday. That is the stuff of a daily walk as we ought and a life of excellence for the cause of Christ.

Does this sound like a chance to become proud? A chance to say "see what I have become"? Well consider this antidote: I am doing this because it pleases my Father and this is what he wants me to do. The goal of spiritual discipline is not to earn his favor, it is instead to express the joy that comes with his favor lavished out on us. We are serving him and becoming more holy because we love him! NOT because we want a bragging right or a declaration of worth or even to earn his "favorite son" status.

I want to abstain from anything that would be an impediment to my growth and advancement in sanctity. Anything that may besmirch my chance/opportunity to grow in and to show forth the beauty of my Father MUST go. These impediments may be good things that simply entangle me. I throw them off and give them up to lighten the load and press for growth. I will not put anything in my way -- or rather God's way for me. His will, his way, is the way of growth.

Dear Father,
Thanks for allowing me to be called your child. Thanks for not leaving without any instruction for righteousness. Thanks for giving me your Holy Spirit who coaches me and challenges me every day to grow in my walk of excellence and obedience. Help me today to throw off the junk and to be a better servant, even a slave, doing the work that you have called me to do with joy. Keep my eyes off of myself. Keep me focused on sin eradication. Allow me to have victory in the temptations that you are sure that I can handle! I want to be better tomorrow than I was today.

Wholly your increasingly holy child,
Mike