Daily Lesson for May 21, 2014

Today's Daily Lesson is from 1 Thessalonians chapter 5 verses 23 and 24:

"23 Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24 He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it."

G.K. Chesterton once said, “The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting; it has been found difficult and left untried."  I am not sure that's quite right.  It's been my experience that the ideals of Christianity have been sincerely tried; but many have found them so difficult that along the way they stopped trying.

"Walk the second mile."  "Turn the other cheek."  "Everyone who even looks upon a woman with lust is guilty of adultery."  "Anyone who is angry with their brother or sister is guilty of murder."  "Pray for those who persecute and abuse you."  "Love your enemy."  "Be perfect as your Father in heaven is perfect."

Talk about lofty goals.  It's a wonder we set out for this at all; and it really isn't any wonder just how frustrated we get with our lack of progress.  I mean, Be perfect?

But today's Daily Lesson reminds us that we aren't alone in this. God is with us; and He is working in and through and on us.  Like the slow but steady trickle of water that eventually cuts away a hard, hard rock, God's Spirit is at work in us, cutting away at our hardness of heart.  

We're not perfect.  We're far from it.  We do not give like we could or love like we should and our thought life if ever revealed would be enough to have us dig a hole and crawl in.  We aren't perfect at all.  We're a jumbled, inconsistent mess.  As St. Paul said, we do the things we don't want to do and what we want to do we don't do.  But - God isn't done with us yet.  He is still at work, cutting and shaping us to perfection.  And, as the Lesson says today, "He will surely do it."

Dr. King used to say, "I ain't what I ought to be.  I ain't what I'm gonna be.  But thank God, I ain't what I was."  That's not spiritual perfection; but it is progress.