“Being confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. Be a work in progress” (Philippians 1:6)

The moment we trust Jesus, some amazing transformations take place. All our sins are forgiven, we join God’s family, we receive eternal life, and God’s Spirit takes up residence inside us.  These things are wonderful truths of our new life in Jesus, but we’ve only begun to let those things sink deep into the crevices of our lives to change our motivations, thoughts, and habits. We are very much works in progress, and we’ll remain unfinished until we see Jesus face to face.

As we consider this fact, two important principles emerge. First, we shouldn’t expect perfections. We are on a long long journey, and many of us have just learned to walk. We have much to learn and we need to unpack the distortions, bad habits, and selfish attitudes, we carry in our backpacks. If we think we should be perfect, we may deny that we are drifting off course from time to time so we will fail to make corrections. Denial can lead to calamity.

And second, we aren’t on this journey alone. God has committed Himself to be our guide all along the way. He is helping us unload some of the excess baggage we carry, and He gives us directions when we come to a crossroads. Sometimes we listen well, but sometimes we think we know the way without His help. We’ll do a lot better if we pay attention to Him.

The trail is long and we won’t arrive at our destination in this life. Still, we’re on the journey with Jesus for the greatest thrill of our lives.