A Lifelong Journey

One of the largest and most famous bicycling events in the United States is the Seattle to Portland (STP) ride. Every summer almost 10,000 riders from all over the world make the 200 mile trek by bike, most of them in two days. I've only done the STP once, and since I did it in just one day I knew I had to train long and hard to get ready.

Many cyclists do the STP every year, and they've told me that invariably there are a few people who ride their bikes a few miles a day and then try to just hop on and do the STP without any training. They are the ones I saw by the side of the road about 40 or 50 miles into the ride, waiting for the "sag wagon" to come and pick them up and take them to the next rest station because they could not go on. You don't become a serious cyclist in one day!

You don't become a Christ-like disciple in one day either. In 2 Corinthians 3:18 Paul writes: "And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit." Paul's reference is to Moses whose face shone when he came down from the mountain after being with the Lord. And when we've been with Jesus by faith and have trusted in him and received his salvation by grace--our faces shine, in fact, our lives shine with his glory. But we don't instantly become like Jesus.

Paul says that we are being transformed into Jesus' likeness with ever increasing glory, which comes from the Lord. There are two important things we need to understand from this verse. First, becoming more like Jesus takes time. In fact you can work at becoming more like Jesus your whole life and you will never reflect his glory perfectly. His glory will never be perfected in us until we share in his glory in heaven. Second, no matter how hard we work at it, we can't become like Jesus on our own. Paul says that the ever-increasing glory in our lives come from the Lord. His Holy Spirit must be at work in us to conform us to the image of God's Son.

Nevertheless, if we spend time with Jesus through Word and Sacrament, the Holy Spirit will be at work in us to reflect the Lord's glory more and more. It cannot fail because it's not our work, it's his. So just as my training for the STP paid off with a completed 206 mile ride in one day, so our spiritual disciplines will pay off as the Spirit works in us to make us more and more like Jesus. But be patient with yourself. It's a lifelong process. So enjoy!