549. Are We There Yet?

“One of the neighborhood mothers,” Stan began, “organized a field trip for the children in the neighborhood.”

“Where to?” I asked.

“Gawkins’ Dairy, out on the road to Winston,” Stan replied.

“When are they going?”

“We went yesterday,” Stan said.

“We?”

“Yeah,” he replied, “I was a chaperone.  I got to drive the van-load of excited children.”

“How did it go?”

“Fabulous,” he said.  “They had a lot of fun, going, being there, and coming back.  As you can imagine, we had only gone a few blocks from home when they started asking, ‘Are we there yet?’”

“Life is like that in a lot of ways,” I replied.  “Always wondering if we are there yet, regardless of the destination.”

“You’re right, my friend,” Stan responded.  “I think the apostle Peter was writing about that at the beginning of his second letter, but he was writing to me about a spiritual destination in my walk with God.”

“How so?” I asked.

“Peter goes through the steps we are to follow to reach the destination of manifesting Christian love,” Stan replied.

Continuing, he said, “There are a number of steps that Peter addresses.  We will talk about each one at a different time, but here I want to focus on what he wrote about the end destination of Christian love.”

“And,” Stan added, “it’s essential for my faith walk with God to ask continually, ‘Am I there yet?  Am I manifesting Christian love in every aspect of my being?’”

“What if the answer is that you are not?” I asked.

“Time to find out why,” Stan replied.  “After all, the first-listed fruit of the Spirit is love.  If I am not manifesting Christian love as Peter writes, there is something missing.  And that ‘something’ is usually easy to identify.  Failure to get self out of the way.”

“Just like the first step in discipleship,” I responded.  “Deny self.”

“And let Christian love flow like a river!”

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. . . and in your brotherly kindness, Christian love.  2 Peter 1:7.

By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.  John 13:35.

Prayer:  Thank you, Father, for loving me.  Thank you for so loving the world that you gave Jesus for all who believe to have life eternally with you when it is time.  Thank you for sending the Holy Spirit, whose first-listed fruit is love, to live within me so that I will manifest Christian love in every aspect of my being.  I confess that too often I do not manifest that love because I choose to manifest something else.  Please, Father, forgive me.  And please help me in being open to truly manifest all of the love you have for me to demonstrate to a watching world, so that they will know I am a disciple.  Thank you I can and do bring these prayers before you in the name of Jesus.  Amen.

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Think on this:  Christian love in every aspect of your life is the destination.  Where are you in that journey?  What will it look like to “have arrived’?

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Comments, questions, suggestions, and the like can be addressed to The Storyteller at: waiting4thetrain@gmail.com.