Along the Road

A post by Dan Edelen at Cerulean Sanctum captured me today. Dan’s post, A Long Obedience in the Same Direction, talks about the road taken to follow Christ. We all start at a different place, but our destination is the same. For Dan, the road began at 14, putting his faith in Christ before traveling the road in the wrong direction. Others start farther down the path, broken by life, seeing clearly the dead end approaching when following sin. Many are like myself and start somewhere between the two; given our own pace by our guide, Jesus Christ.

What struck me was Dan’s comment on being judged by not having been broken enough; as though Christ must always place us on the end of the road to travel the entire journey, without which grace cannot be truly realized. It is perhaps this mindset that prevents many from coming to know Christ. They consider themselves good people, and rightly so. They are friendly, caring and compassionate. If heaven were a reward for good behavior, they would be set.

It is not.

We are all sinners. There is no grey area, no in-between by which we are proven righteous by our own accord. We are all separated by God without the blood of Christ to bring us in line with the high standard God has set. He will not accept anything less than perfect.

Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 3:12-14 NIV)

As we travel this road, let us remember it is not where we start that is important, but where we finish.