Philippians 1:6 NIV, “...being confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”
I just got back from the grocery store. The friendliest gal was running the checkout so we had a nice little chat as she swiped my cereal, soda and such. I wondered if her job ever gets boring -- you know, when other not-so-nice customers might come through her lane. Scanning, scanning, scanning…all day long…day after day. I had a week’s worth of groceries so we chatted for quite awhile. She asked me what I was up to the rest of the day.
“Laundry,” was my enthusiastic response.
“Ah, yes,” she mused, “It never is done, is it?”
“No,” I agreed. “I guess that’s why we always say we’re doing laundry!”
Some things in this life just never get done!
One of those things, thankfully, is the work that God started in me and promised to complete. Philippians 1:6 NIV, “...being confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” I thought that it was me who sought out God, when all along, it was He who sought out me. John 6:44, “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him.” I thought it was me who was becoming a better Christian, when all along it is God who is faithfully and persistently working with me, yes; but in me also to complete the work of salvation that He started.
Philippians 2:13, “...for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to His good purpose.”
There may be days, like the grocery store clerk, that life seems mundane and life lessons seem to be on a repeat cycle. There may be times when God seems to work slowly, teaching me the same lessons over and over; chipping away at the old stubborn block that I am. But the great hope and beautiful truth is that God’s work is never DONE! God is always doing – not just around me and in my circumstances; but IN me! And the promise is that He won’t stop -- until that day -- either until I am in heaven with him or Jesus returns to this earth. Hallelujah!
That truth, that God is ‘doing’ in my life; raises another truth that Scripture reveals -- He expects me to be ‘doing’ as well. The grace that He extended to me in salvation wasn’t just for me -- it was for His sake too -- it was for His glory. How fair, then, that the God who gives the grace would hold the expectation of me that I use the gift of grace He has given. Ephesians 2:10 NIV, “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”
How long do I have to keep up my end of the bargain? 1 Timothy 6:12-15 NIV, “Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses… I charge you to keep this command without spot or blame until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
How long am I commanded to ‘fight the good fight of the faith’? Until that day -- the day Jesus returns, or the day I die -- whichever may come first. I can’t know which end to expect, but in the command I’m told not to focus so much on the end, but rather the ‘fight’ at hand. Today needs to be lived fully, for the glory of God, before tomorrow can come onto the to-do list.
While I may wish that many things in my life were ‘done,’ I can say with great gratitude that I am thankful the Lord is not done with me. I am thankful that His work and His promises are in the present and future tenses and not only a completed past event that I can reflect on. His promises are for the present and the future -- what HOPE we have in that!
I also am made aware in Scripture that this action in my life from the hand of God requires a reaction on my part. What will I do with the grace given to me? I am not done working for the Lord. Until ‘that day’ I must be doing for the Lord! This ‘doing’ is the fight that I am fighting. This ‘doing’ is the forward march of the Christian soldier. It is the progress of God’s grace in my life that is for my good and His glory.
Although I know the outcome of the greater battle and although I am in the Victor’s army, I still must fight and skirmish along the way. Life’s journey is not promised to be a smooth road, but a narrow one. The Christian walk is not promised to be easy, but rather grace-filled. The good fight of faith is less a child’s pillow fight and more a soldier in the trenches.
We must claim the precious truth that God will finish the work in us that He started while we obey the grace-enabled command to continue in our work for the Lord. Some things in life are never done, but require constant doing…until that day!
Chris McMahan
Happy1970@icloud.com
