2 Corinthians 3:14-18 “But their minds were made dull, for to this day the same veil remains when the old covenant is read… But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away… 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.”
There is always the part that God does, and then there is the part that we have to do. It’s a glorious partnership as we are transformed into his likeness.
On 8th July 2011, NASA launched the space shuttle for the last time. This program was incredibly innovative and impactful, so why shut it down? The answer was that the cost of maintaining the program was inhibiting new innovative ideas. We very easily become comfortable with successes and what we are good at, but these are the very things that can cause us to stagnate. As Kevin Kelly said: “Success flows directly from innovation, not optimization. It is not gained by perfecting the known, but by imperfectly seizing the unknown.”
Life is a mixture of continuity and change. Too much of the former is stultifying; too much of the latter is overwhelming. Keeping in step with the Spirit means being open to both – not running ahead nor lagging behind. So a good question for us to ask is: “What’s next Lord?” And then more importantly, we need to decide to trust him and either keep on doing what we are already doing, or step into the ‘unknown’ as he directs us. He is faithful and dependable. It’s as if a veil covers over our vision when we become too comfortable with where we are in the transformation process. But if we keep our eyes on Jesus, we’ll see that we have a long way to go to perfection. Then, as we turn to the Lord (the bit we do), he will take us to the next step, as we follow his lead.
Lord, I choose to keep in step with you today. Amen!
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