The Spiritual Climb

On a hike with Ron (my husband) we had traversed some rugged terrain and were on a steep incline.  I was already a little weary and struggling with the grade.  Without my even saying anything, Ron came up behind me and put his hand at my lower back.  It was a wonderful gentle boost that made the climb so much easier. I gratefully received this nudge so that I could reach our goal. 

It occurred to me that if I had not wanted to climb on and upward, I could have been irritated by his effort to help me.  If I had wanted to stop for awhile or turn back, I could have found him annoyingly eager or judged him to be impatient or assuming superiority.  But I wanted to climb, to see the view from the top and his hand at my back was a welcome pressure.

"And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds."  Heb. 10:24

It seems that if we are eager to climb toward spiritual maturity, we find the spurring of others to be pleasant and helpful.  But if we are longing to take a break or turn back, it can be annoying and it is easy to misinterpret the motives of the person trying to help us.  Certainly, it is more complex than this simple illistration, but worth pondering.  Climb on!

What's on Your Mind?

Lot's of adjectives get placed in front of the word "mind":  open mind, brilliant mind, inquisitive mind.  Psalm 7:9 tells us that God "searches minds and hearts."  It is mind-boggling to think that God is reading 6 billion+minds at a time and he has some assessments about what he sees there. 

Here are some adjectives God uses in the Bible to describe what he reads in the minds of mankind: "warped" (Psalm 12:8), "closed" (Isaiah 44:18), "deluded" (Jeremiah 14:14), "dull" (II Corinthians 3:14), "blinded"(II Corinthians 4:4), and, happily, "willing" and "faithful". 

I'm hoping the latter two are what he sees in my mind, but the great thing is he is willing to change our minds!  One of his wonderful promises is that we can be "transformed by the renewing of your mind." (Romans 12:2)  I know I need it everyday and I'm so grateful to have his Word as a reference point to know where to set my thoughts.

Glory

Life is mostly inglorious.  In fact, "glory" is a seldom-heard word in our day to day conversations.  Glory is a word for idealists. It is easier not to hope for glory than to be disappointed.  Indeed, most of will never attain the things the world finds glorious:  beauty is fleeting, fame is illusive, wealth is vulnerable; pleasure is unpredictable. 

But God offers us glory!  In Christ we hold a sure position of glory:  "...God has chosen to make known...the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ among you, the hope of glory." (Col. 1:27)

In Christ we are invited to a lifestyle of glory: "To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life." (Rom. 2:7)

In Christ we are promised a transformation into glory: "And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit." (II Cor. 3:18)

Glory is ours in Christ.  It might be a good idea to reintroduce it into our vocabularies!