I Believe I Can Fly!

James 1:21a-25
...and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you. 22Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. 23Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror 24and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. 25But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it--he will be blessed in what he does.

Without getting into a theological debate over "once saved always saved," I was struck by this passage this morning as I considered the saving work God is doing in my life. I've always believed that salvation is both an experience and a process. Over twenty years ago during one of my treks up the isle at Grace United Methodist Church to respond to my need to be rescued from Rev. Jack Chalk's description of Hell, God answered my plea for help. At that moment (whichever moment that was) God displayed the receipt of the penalty he paid for me through Jesus Christ and deposited the Holy Spirit in me. From that day forward God has been molding and shaping my life through the Power of His Word, the comfort, counsel and conviction of the Holy Spirit, the love of fellow believers, and my willingness to grow.

Unfortunately or fortunately (depending on how you look at it), my greatest experiences in growth have occurred during times of trial when like a baby bird, I've been pushed out the nest and forced to fly or fall. It's during those times of rapid descent that I'm forced to remember and choose faith or flesh. Faith in the word that was planted in me and can save me as James writes. Faith in the Father that has been faithful thus far in my life or as I look in the mirror of my life and see God's hand, I can choose to look away and forget or deny his presence and power that I have seen over and over again in so many wonderfully fascinating ways. I can choose flesh and try to go on my might and power, rather than the Spirit of the Lord. I can settle for impostors like drugs, alcohol, and sex that serve to distract for a few fleeting moments, but do nothing of lasting value to resolve the longing for trust, peace, comfort, acceptance, or whatever the longing may be at the time. I'm not trying to oversimplfy matters when I say, "faith is a choice." I'm saying it for myself as I long to get life right. I don't want to spend my life drinking my morning coffee with my elbows because I either lacked the knowledge or the courage to use my hands.

My hope for maturity is that I will learn to more readily choose faith in the everyday decisions of life. I want it to be said of me, "He walked by faith and not by sight. He was a man of great faith. His life of faith pleased God."

Where there is hatred, let me sow love. Where there is injury, pardon. Where there is doubt, faith.
Saint Francis of Assisi (1181 - 1226)