The powerful effect of VISION

How vision effects this day

Costa, the trainer who is tasked with bringing me to fitness, faces a real challenge; and so do I!  As he coached me through my session yesterday, he kept reminding me that change is incremental, that expecting too much, too soon, creates disappointment and sets me up to quit the regimen. Almost in the same breath, he would talk about gaining increased endurance and strength, about new flexibility, and less risk of injury to joints. He wanted me to know why I was making the effort, submitting myself to the pain. The connection to the vital Christian life was obvious to me.  Stable, joyful, holy Christians build that life over time, with consistent practices of spiritual disciplines.  If they set up false expectations or try to compare themselves to another, they will likely become discouraged.  If they have a powerful, God-given vision for their future, they will remain hopeful and diligent in discipleship.

My trainer wrote down some measurements yesterday.  We will re-visit those on a monthly basis, adjusting my exercise program and diet as necessary to get the results I desire.  It is not easy to be faced with the facts of my physical condition!  It is much easier to pretend that “I am just fine.”  But, there is a powerful motivation to make a difference, when I see who am I and contrast that with what I can become. What would happen to us if we put our spiritual condition down on paper, facing the facts about the state of our soul?

What kind of person do you want to be, does the Lord desire you to become? 

Do you want to be a loving, encouraging, hopeful, joyful, positive, life-enhancing individual that brings light into every room?
Are you content to be a self-absorbed, TV-obsessed, critical, mean, miserable person, who sucks the life out of others?  Most of us are somewhere between those extremes. We have days when the sinful nature takes over and we are full of darkness and we have days when the Spirit is invited to fill us.  But, we are always moving towards light or darkness!

The letter to the Galatians offers us a succinct summary that contrasts the life controlled by sin with the life directed by the Spirit.
"The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit (the visible evidence) of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law." (Galatians 5:19-23, NIV)  What kind of motivation for change might we find if, like I did with my physical trainer, we did an honest assessment of the way we live? 

The change produced by daily prayer and meditation, by actively expressing worship, by confession of failure and acceptance of forgiveness, by entering into silence to listen to the Spirit, by giving even when we do not wish to do so, by choosing anonymous service in big and small ways, by learning and applying Scriptural principles;  is sure and certain – yet, incremental!   I want to be the person the Lord designed me to be.  So, I will live as this word from the Word teaches.  "I gave up all that inferior stuff so I could know Christ personally, experience his resurrection power, be a partner in his suffering, and go all the way with him to death itself. If there was any way to get in on the resurrection from the dead, I wanted to do it. I’m not saying that I have this all together, that I have it made. But I am well on my way, reaching out for Christ, who has so wondrously reached out for me. Friends, don’t get me wrong: By no means do I count myself an expert in all of this, but I’ve got my eye on the goal, where God is beckoning us onward—to Jesus. I’m off and running, and I’m not turning back." (Philippians 3:10-14, The Message)

Got the vision, friend?  Let’s get on with it, encouraging one another, becoming all that Christ desires us to be.  Soli Deo Gloria!