There are few more wonderful and exciting experiences for a Christian than that of watching someone you know and love begin a relationship with Jesus, especially when we’ve been praying for them for a very long time. We want to jump up and down for joy, and often, so do they. Their enthusiasm is contagious, reminding us of the early stages of a beautiful romance. Yet, as we think back to when our walk with the Lord first began, we recognise that this was merely the first step along a journey, and we’re still learning and travelling.
WE talk about making a decision to follow Jesus, seeming to put the onus on us. Yet, the Bible makes it clear that it is him who chose us, and not the other way around. In John 6: 44, Jesus says: No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him.” In Ephesians 1: 3-4, the apostle Paul says: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him.” Finally, when he wrote of his own conversion and what followed in Galatians 1: 15-16, Paul said: “But when he who had set me apart before I was born, and who called me by his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son to me, in order that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with anyone.” So, it is the Lord who calls us, chooses us, and sets us apart. All the work of salvation is his, and therefore, the glory is also his.
There are lots of big theological debates on words like pre-destination, and how God chooses those who will be his, but I have to admit these are things beyond my understanding. The point for me is that I trust God implicitly, and I’m so glad he chose me. I don’t believe we are meant to have all the answers. God will reveal things to us as and when we need to understand. That is the very essence of faith – being sure of what we hope for, and certain of what we do not yet see. (Hebrews 11:1.)
So, we have established that when we become a Christian, we are chosen by god – hand-picked to be his children. Isn’t that a wonderful thought – that someone loved you and me enough to choose us, despite all our sins and shortcomings, and despite the number of times he knew we’d let him down both before and after we become Christians.
Coming to know Jesus truly is the best thing in the world, but if we think we have arrived when we are newborn believers, then we are sorely mistaken. Although we can now call ourselves ‘Saved’, we need to understand that salvation is a process, and accepting that Jesus really is who he said he was is like finally rolling a six in a game of Snakes And Ladders and being able to move forward instead of being stuck on the edge of the board while everyone else is taking their turn. The end of the game is still a long way off.
So, let’s take the Snakes And Ladders analogy a bit further, since I imagine it’s a game many of us played during childhood. The aim is to get from 1 to 100. We’ll forget the fact that the first person to get there is the winner, since in God’s kingdom, all those who have entered in through the precious shed blood of Jesus are winners. The aim is to keep moving forward, just as it is for the new Christian.
The best way to ensure we keep moving forward in our walk with the Lord is to pray, read his word, and have regular fellowship with other believers. Remember that iron sharpens iron. We won’t know a lot about anything spiritual when we first come to Jesus, but that’s okay, because there are other people in the family of God waiting to help and advise us, and we will do well to heed their advice, as long as it lines up with the truths in the Bible. We should never be ashamed to admit when we don’t know something, and we should maintain a teachable spirit, whether we’ve been on the path for 1 day, or for 50 plus years. More mature Christians can learn from the eagerness and enthusiasm of the new converts, and the new believers will learn from those with experience. WE are a family, and we all need one another.
Now, going back to our board game, let’s think about the snakes and ladders themselves. We’ll deal with the good part first. Sometimes, we receive a wonderful revelation from the Lord, an exciting insight from his word, or we have an incredible experience with him through the person and power of his Holy Spirit. That can feel like shooting up one of the ladders. It may be a relatively small ladder, but on other occasions, God can whizz people rapidly up the board of their Christian life because he has a special plan or purpose for them. The apostle Paul seems to have been one such person. He went very deep with God very quickly, but he spent a lot of one on one time alone with God in order for this to happen.
Yet, if there are wonderful ladders, we also have to consider the not so good snakes. I know Satan is referred to as a serpent, and it’s certainly true that we encounter trials and temptations where we see his snake-like qualities at work, but we don’t always go down snakes because of him. Sometimes, we are lured back into worldly thinking, or we struggle to let go of old habits and thought patterns. Before we know it, they’ve sent us sliding down a snake, and we feel as though some of the good work God has been doing in our lives has been undone. WE feel ashamed, because we moved forward, only to go slithering back. When that happens, we are tempted to run away and hide from God in shame and fear, just like Adam and Eve did in the garden of Eden when sin first entered into the world (Genesis 3.) Of course, our enemy wants us to run away and hide, when God wants us to do the very opposite. He wants us to run into his arms, so he can set us back on our feet and help us move forward again.
As I look back on my years of knowing Jesus, I can think of times when I’ve encountered both snakes and ladders. I have soared with joy after a deeply moving spiritual experience, only to seemingly come crashing back down to the ground a few days later, as my own humanity and fleshliness has come back into play. It’s a journey, and it’s a battle, but remember, we are on the victory side. The Bible calls this process of growing in our faith and our Christian walk sanctification, which is really just a posh-sounding term for becoming more like Jesus. We grow through the good and the bad times, and we often learn most from our mistakes. We are going to make them, because we are learning and growing. A new Christian is like a baby or toddler. We don’t expect them to always get things right, so why are we so hard on others, or even on ourselves?
The process of growing, becoming sanctified, or becoming more like Jesus will not be complete until the end of our salvation story, when we finally get to heaven, and have the beautiful undeserved reward of spending eternity with Jesus in a place of beauty and perfection especially prepared for us. Jesus saves us from our sin the minute we call upon him as our Saviour, but we are travelling toward the culmination of our salvation, when he will wipe every tear from our eyes and reveal things more wonderful than we can imagine.
We have been saved; we are being saved; and we will be saved. It’s a journey, but we have Jesus as our guide and companion, and the family of God as our cheering squad. We’re all in the same boat, so let’s encourage one another, and help each other along our journey. If we see a brother or sister struggling, let’s lift them up in prayer, and help them back onto the right path. One day, we may need them to do the same for us. Let’s keep pressing on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called us heavenward in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 3: 14.)