For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.
~Ephesians 2:8–9
There are those who have a life they never live. They have come to Christ and thanked Him only for what He did, but do not live in the power of who He is. Between the Jesus who "was" and the Jesus who "will be" they live in a spiritual vacuum, trying with no little zeal to live for Christ a life that only He can live in and through them, perpetually begging for what in Him they already have!
~Major W. Ian Thomas (foreword to Bob George's Classic Christianity)
These thoughts have been on my mind a lot this week. I began to see the concept in terms of growing flowers. I can water, fertilize, pull weeds, tend my little garden, but I can not create a flower.
It's the same way with living a Christian life, we can tend our gardens, but we do not create salvation by doing so. Only God can do that. When we come to Him through His son Jesus Christ, we have all the power of who He is today, in this moment. We'll not know everything there is to know nor be perfect, though we will have everything we need to walk with Him. Let us not keep begging God for what we already have.
On the other hand, let us not assume that our meager efforts of being a good person or doing whatever.it.is. will be the ticket to heaven. Jesus is our ticket and once we come to Him, let us allow Him to live His life in and through us.
