By Pat Russell
I grew up in a Christian tradition that emphasized “coming to the altar to give your heart to the Lord.” And so, at the age of eight, I “went forward” to kneel at the altar and pray that “Jesus would come into my heart.” He came into the very center of my being and gave me a new spirit – His Spirit. I was a new creation (2 Cor. 5:17).
After that day, I wanted to live my life just the way I was told that Christians were suppose to live their lives. That was all well and good, except that I failed. I thought something had gone wrong; I thought that I was not being a good enough Christian to be able to go to heaven. I was filled with guilt. So, the next time an altar call was given, I went forward again. In fact, I went forward over and over until my teenage years.
I remember thinking one Sunday while I sat up in the balcony of the church and an altar call was being given that I was not going to do that again. I declared right then and there that I belonged to the Lord no matter how I felt. I drove a “stake into the ground” of my life in Christ. Since that time I have knelt and prayed about different issues in my life, but I have never doubted that I will be going to heaven when I die. My ticket to heaven was Jesus’ death and what He did for me did not need to be redone!
But still, I do not live a perfect life - hardly. It has been very important for me to realize that “salvation is a life,” as a Christian theologian Dallas Willard puts it. Being saved is not just a ticket to heaven, it is so much more. It is about my life being taken over more and more by that same grace that gives me heaven when I die. My salvation happens NOW; not only after I die. The seeds of that new life were planted when I was eight. The new creation started in my innermost being and must grow to take over my whole being. That seed will continue to grow and grow until I am the person that He created me to be. That growth will not quit.
During this Lenten season as Pastor Bruce speaks to us about “A Ladder to God,” or the journey of faith into the heart of God, I am reminded of that fact. When God stood beside Jacob at the ladder, God told him, “…for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.”(Gen. 28:15) Paul, many, many years later said the same thing about God, “I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work among you will bring it to completion by the day of Jesus Christ.” (Phil. 1:6) I am going to grow more and more in the life that is “fitting to what a child of God is like” as Pastor Bruce said. That is virtue or goodness.
At the Ash Wednesday service, I was reminded of the fact that my “ashes are still showing,” (I am still not perfect – ha!), but Christ is beside me on a daily basis helping me deal with those ashes as I cooperate with God’s grace. So, how do I cooperate with God’s work in my life? Here is one idea for this week: Sit in your favorite chair in the quiet. Gently ask God one or all of these questions: What kinds of things have you been saying to me recently? What themes have I heard? What would it look like to obey the voice of the Holy Spirit today? Listen. Maybe write down some of your thoughts. Twenty-four hours later, review what you wrote or thought about the answers to these questions. Thank God for how you cooperated, even a little bit. Be honest with him about where you didn’t cooperate. Then, ask God one or more of those questions again. Listen. Write. Live. “Salvation is a life!”
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