December/Vision

If any man, to whom God has granted it, understands what life he ought to live to become eternal in place of mortal, wise in place of stupid, heavenly in place of earthly, first let him keep his discernment pure that he may employ it for living well, and look not on what is but on what shall be. For that which is not shall be, and he should consider what he sees not, by means of what he sees, and attempt to be what he was created, and call God's grace to help his striving.

  - Columbanus, Sermon III (Irish, 7th century)

Your throne, O God, is forever and ever. The scepter of your kingdom is a scepter of uprightness; you have loved righteousness and hated wickedness.

  - Psalm 45.6, 7

Christ rules at the right hand of God, holding a scepter of uprightness, the symbol of His reign. In the beginning, Solomon tells us, God made men upright; however, since then, our many wicked devices have compromised and spoiled that original design (Eccl. 7.29).

But now Jesus has come, and He is reconciling all things back to the Father. He is working in us by His Word and Spirit to return us to that upright condition in which we were created, a condition of righteousness and holiness of truth in Him. It's tempting to consider where we are in the life of faith as being as good as it gets in Christ. But the Christian life is never as good as it gets.

Jesus is ruling us unto uprightness. We need to cultivate a vision of what that will look like in our lives as it comes increasingly to pass. How will our relationships be different from what they are today? Our conversations? Our endeavors for the Lord? Our witness? Our character? Columbanus counsels us to focus not on what we are but on what Christ is working to help us become - reflections of His own image (2 Cor. 3.18).

Do you have a vision for what your life can become in Jesus? Have you identified areas of needed improvement? Are you working with God's Word and Spirit to unpack more of His glorious salvation in every area of your life?

Don't live in the past. Live in the present, but live for the future, for what Christ can do in and through you. Nurture a vision of your life, upright and flourishing - the way God created you to be - and then pursue that vision with all diligence and zeal. One day you will be fully reconciled to God through our Lord Jesus Christ. For now, strive for as much of that reconciled condition as you can possibly attain.