The Sanctification Syllabus
Here at college, I'm involved with a wonderful Bible study. The girls are lovely, funny, and curious. The leaders are wise and compassionate. It's definitely a highlight of my week.
I've been involved with numerous Bible studies during my Christian life, but, honestly, I can't attribute my spiritual maturation to any of them.
Something always irked me about the small groups; something that was meant to grow me always discouraged me; a certain little phrase.
"Let's find some applications to work on for this week."
I subconsciously tune out after any variation of that phrase.
"Here is a great verse to remind yourself of when you wake up." "This week, challenge yourself to be a servant."
"Today, encourage someone."
"Make sure to get an accountability partner to meet up with this week so you can measure one another's progress with your spiritual goal!"
And so on...
I couldn't identify at first why I never accepted these challenges or why I just started getting fidgety as everyone went around the room for the fifth time that night to share what part of their spiritual life would blossom that week.
But I soon realized a couple things. One, that it's really hard to transform yourself into a better servant, a more joyful Christian, or a more consistent prayer in just a week's time, and two, and probably the most important, that I'm incapable of making my own weekly sanctification syllabus for how I will mature spiritually.
My concentrated efforts won't transform because God has already placed opportunities for me to become like Him in the week which I'm meant to respond to rather than create.
Believe me, I understand being proactive, taking baby steps, and the advantages to only handling one week at a time, but, let's not think that after one week of concentrating on joy, then the next love, then the next prayer, then the next obedience that we will master these things. And let us not think that we can create our own path to spiritual maturation.
Proverbs 3:3, "Let love and faithfulness never leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart."
Love and faithfulness are central to our Christian lives. If we have not love, we are nothing (1 Corinthians 13:1-3). If we are not faithful to the One in which we keep our faith, perhaps our faith is elsewhere.
Proverbs admonishes us to never let these traits leave us. They need to be bound around our neck. In full sight of all who meet us and situated so we can't ignore them. They need to be written on the tablet of our hearts. Permanently ingrained into our character.
Maybe I'm wrong, but I'm pretty sure being comfortable with wearing love and faithfulness around my neck constantly will take longer than a week.
And writing something on the tablet of a heart will take even longer.
But thank goodness that the Lord has made it clear that He is the author, perfector, and finisher of my faith so I don't have to author, perfect, and finish my own weekly sanctification syllabus.
It takes a long time to engrave a tablet because a tablet is hard. Exodus 34:28 says, "Moses remained there on the mountain with the Lord for fourty days and fourty nights. In all that time he neither ate bread nor drank water. And the Lord wrote the terms of the covenant--the Ten Commandments--on stone tablets." Obviously, God could've zapped the engravings on those tablets real quick...maybe even in a week...but He chose to keep Moses up there for fourty days and nights while He wrote.
Now just imagine how much harder our hearts are than stone tablets.
Sin is some rough stuff to cut through. It needs time. It needs a skilled mason.
Probably the most important ingredient to having God's truth engraved on our hearts is letting God do it in His timing. (see "I'm Not Trying to Love God Anymore.")
Notice how Moses didn't eat or drink while he was on Sinai. He had to completely trust the Lord for provision. Also, notice how the Lord was doing all the writing and all the giving. Moses didn't dash up the mountain holding stone tablets then tell God to write the Ten Commandments and to make it snappy.
We are given no indication that Moses helped God out while we are given every indication that he let God work; every indication that Moses was obedient and receptive to God's actions.
Obedient and receptive to His perfect syllabus of sanctification.
Moses didn't come down off that mountain in a week with that shining face and lifegiving truth. It took some real time, real trust, and a real desire to be receptive to whatever God had for him.
Even if some weeks didn't show much progress.
So I rarely have any week-spiritual-victories to share with my Bible study group. I don't give praises for how many spiritual blossoms I planted, watered, and fed, I give praise for whatever I saw Him graciously choose to reveal to me.
I want to see all the opportunities that the Lord has already embedded in the week for me to become more like Him instead of forcing myself to accomplish my chosen spiritual goal. He's already planned it out.
I search for Him and respond to Him. And I do not confine His work to a week.