Day Two: Holiness is a Process

When I first started working for Starbucks about 5 months ago, I was extremely overwhelmed. There were so many things to remember and on top of that the environment there is very fast paced. My store has a drive-thru in addition to the cafe which means things can get twice as crazy. I remember when I first started working on bar. I had to ask my co-workers how many pumps different drinks got, I was behind on orders and I was constantly making mistakes. Overtime, the more I practiced on bar the more efficient I became. I didn't need to ask co-workers how to make drinks as often and I began to make less mistakes. I still get flustered sometimes if I'm put on bar during a rush but for the most part I'm able to make things right and hand them out on time. I'm not perfect at bar, I still have things to learn and more skills to work on but I've improved significantly since I first started.

In the same way that learning a new skill is a process that takes effort and practice, so is becoming like Christ. The instant we accept Jesus, we won't immediately leave all our old ways behind and never sin again. We choose to honor God as the Holy Spirit begins to work in our hearts. As we choose to read the Bible and spend time in prayer, God works in our hearts to desire to follow His commandments and to meditate on His words. Circumstances that arise in our lives push us and refine us to make us look more like Christ. We won't be complete until we go home and Christ comes back as it says in Philippians 1:6. For now though it's a process. A painful yet beautiful process.

"The command Be ye perfect [Matt. 5:48] is not idealistic gas. Nor is it a command to do the impossible. He is going to make us into creatures that can obey that command. He said (in the Bible) that we were "gods" and he is going to make good His words. If we let Him - for we can prevent Him, if we choose - He will make the feeblest and filthiest of us into a god or goddess, a dazzling, radiant, immortal creature, pulsating all through with such energy and joy and wisdom and love as we cannot now imagine, a bright stainless mirror which reflects back to God perfectly (though of course, on a smaller scale) His own boundless power and delight and goodness. The process will be long and in parts very painful; but that is what we are in for. Nothing less. He meant what he said."
-C.S. Lewis (Mere Christianity)