I confess that, apart from the growing collection of candles on my birthday cakes or the septuagenarian face in my mirror every morning, there exists inside, a kid blissfully ignorant of the weighty issues of the world. That youngster is sometimes still ill at ease with the requirements of adulting, still surprised at the long list of unspoken expectations that come with being ‘of age.’ Recently, a new school year appeared on calendars, and with it, a nostalgic yearning for new pens and pencils, notebooks (we called them scribblers), plus new teachers and classes and books to read . . . ahh, the memories. (Yes, academics is my happy place).
Reflecting on that somewhat revealing paragraph, I’m reassured by Jesus’ calling his disciples, ‘my dear children,’ ‘my little children,’ etc. His relationship with his men, who were otherwise responsible adults, was one of Master to apprentice. The things his guys had yet to learn were not demerits but an integral part of the journey onto which they’d been swept. As it was for them, our Jesus-following pilgrimage toward full maturity (often translated as perfection) is not completed on the first day of ‘school’ either. And just as it is for students in school, some subjects are more difficult to master than others. Some captivate our imagination more than others. Others require frequent review, frequent repetition. Some might even raise our hackles, causing us to rebel (Ever said something like: ‘Why do we have to know this stupid stuff, anyway?’).
Jesus introduces us to a lifestyle wholly other than the natural one we lived before our introduction to Kingdom living. The ideas of; holiness, purity, perseverance, identifying distractions, maintaining vigilance for sneak attacks of the Enemy, all stretch us, call for us to live with eyes and hearts open, require our obedient listening for the leading of the Spirit. We need to strive to perceive our situations from God’s perfect and eternal, perspective – because that’s where Shalom is waiting. PD
Don graduated from Regent University in 1988 and moved to France for seven years, coming back to the US briefly to marry Sue in 1990. The work in France included working in a Christian School and helping plant a church before returning in 1995. He’s been pastor of Peninsula Vineyard since 1999. He enjoys counseling, especially married couples, traveling back to France (with Sue), reading, doing Sudoku puzzles and sleuthing out good, dark chocolate. Don serves as the senior pastor of the Vineyard Church Peninsula, in Newport News, Virginia.