The Test of Discipleship

I didn't post last Sunday, due to the break. I figured a lot of us left town and were out and about doing things away from our computers; fully appreciating the brief break from school and the work associated with it. I hope everyone had a good one and that the week back in school wasn't too much of a pain after the time off.

Now, we're back and back to Steps to Christ! I don't know about you all, but it seems to me that this journey on getting closer to Christ is tough. Honestly, I just wanted this checklist of things to do that would BAM just put me in this grand and glorious relationship with Christ. Every week, I am reminded that this is not the case. I cannot ask what I can do because it isn't about what I can do. I can't do anything, and anything that I do is tainted by my sinfulness. So then what do I do? I turn to Christ. That is the only thing that I can do, turn it all over, all of me to Jesus. Truly I think this is the hardest thing I have ever tried to comprehend. My mind does not understand turn it over to someone else and let them do it. This just seems to go against every fiber in my being. But this is what is necessary.

Does this mean I can just do nothing? That I just live my life they way I want and BAM one morning I wake up and just start living life differently. I just automatically know what to do and my life perfectly exemplifies Christ. While this would be great, I'm not quite sure it works just so. I believe once we let Christ in, once we have finally turned ourselves completely over to him, we get a new heart, a new perspective. It is on this fresh canvass that Christ comes in and paints his character. As any masterpiece, it takes time; and slowly but surely we transform into this being that models Christ's character.

Will everything be perfect from then on. No. There will be mistakes and slip-ups. But these things should not discourage us. I was really comforted by a statement in this chapter that said that character is not the occasional good act or bad act but by the habitual tendencies; what we do all the time. It's really all just about who's painting the canvass on our hearts. Are we painting it ourselves, or have we turned our canvass over to the Master Artist? This is how we know if we are a disciple of Christ.