Life Is a Journey – Walk in a Manner Worthy of the Lord
Occasionally, I find myself doing home repair projects around my property. I have done projects from plumbing repair in our laundry room to building a fence in the backyard. I’ve noticed a trend in my level of enjoyment when working on such projects. Tasks that are lengthy in time because they require more attention to detail, I don’t enjoy. Projects I can complete in short order because they don’t require as much attention to detail, I tend to enjoy more.
For example, earlier this year, I noticed a fascia board was rotting behind my outdoor gutter system. I decided to replace the wood with new treated lumber. From beginning to end, this project took about three months. I worked on it for a few hours each week.
The most time-consuming part was allowing the treated lumber to dry to a point where it would accept paint. While there wasn’t much satisfaction during the long interval of this project, I finally felt a sense of fulfillment once I painted that last board on our home.
I heard someone say that previous generations worked their entire lives to achieve something that my generation wants to achieve in one year. There is truth in this statement. I think this is driven mostly by the instant gratification culture we live in, a culture that is made up of people like you and me. Many things we desire, we can have at our fingertips by pulling out our smartphones. Instead of remaining focused on the difficult but rewarding tasks, we end up giving our attention to that which grants instant gratification.
In Colossians 2:6-7, Paul says, “Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.” The term walk also translates to journey in Hebrew.
Life is a journey, and every step we take is significant even though our steps don’t all bring instant gratification. In Romans 10:9, the apostle Paul states that one must believe in Jesus Christ to receive salvation from eternal judgment, and that is just the beginning of the sanctification process.
What can be most detrimental is when we allow an expectation of instant gratification to seep into our spiritual lives. We become seekers of gratification rather than seekers of God.
When this happens, we often find ourselves being led off course by bumps in life, which can ultimately lead to our being less effective for the kingdom of God. Sanctification is a challenging process in which we must rely on the Holy Spirit and God’s Word for our encouragement.
In another passage in Romans 12:2, Paul encourages us: “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” Sanctification requires hourly and daily renewing of our minds to align with the will of God. This requires focus.
As tempting as it was to skip or postpone my home gutter repair project, I knew in my heart that if I didn’t remain focused on the task at hand, the entire gutter system would eventually fall to the ground.
We must put our attention on the things of God and remain focused on eternity as opposed to becoming distracted by the things of this world. Focusing on the things of God will lead believers to live:
[S]o as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; being strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy; giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light (Colossians 1:10-12).
(Editor's Note: This article was published in the January/February 2022 Edition of The Stand)
