CARRY IT ON TO COMPLETION

                                                        WORKS IN PROGRESS
                                                              BELIZE- 2011

"...being confident in this: that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus."  Philippians 1:6

There is a series of scripture-song CD's I found a few years ago called SEEDS. ( I highly recommend them, by the way.  The catchy tunes and rhythms appeal to our limbic systems in a big way to help us remember the exact words to lots of scriptures we probably would otherwise have much more trouble remembering-- at least that's the case with me and those with whom I have shared them.) One of them features this partial verse from Philippians. Right now, it is stuck in my head.

 Most of the time, I say, "Don't rip something asunder from its context!" and would encourage looking at least at the whole sentence and probably more words preceding it than even its own sentence.  However, sometimes I like to take out a kernel and examine it for its own merit.  Sometimes leaving the shorter part in the longer whole diminishes it, waters it down somewhat, and makes it paler than it should be.

Since this little song has been repeating itself in my brain for a while, I decided to do some purposeful thinking about what might be new in it that I had missed. 

What had I always thought it meant?

What more might it mean?

I heard it, repeated it a lot, and staked claim to it fiercely through the months and years that I was composing my first book.  It said to me that I could get this thing done.  I could and would, with God's help,  finish, even though 365 days is a huge chunk of devotionals to write.  

But recently it hit me that even though I still believe it means to encourage us in this way, it also might mean something else worth thinking about-- especially in light of the last few words:  "...until the day of Christ Jesus." These are the words that caused me to relook and rethink.  I would love to be around when Jesus returns; I dream of what that would be like. Hearing the trumpet and the shout, maybe getting to see the dead in Christ out at the cemetery jump up out of their old graves and unite with Him in the air just prior to meeting them all there myself.  But I know that generations before me dreamed the same dream, and they perished from the earth without having that dream fulfilled.  I might very well too.  So... what could it mean if I don't get my dream fulfilled?  What if I don't last "until the day of Christ Jesus"?

  How do the words of this verse work in our lives if, indeed, we aren't destined to be here until the day of Christ Jesus?

What if the work He began in me is carried on to completion in the people I meet and influence or teach?  Maybe my children, then my grandchildren? Maybe the ladies I study with, and then the ones they, as a result, study with? The kids in your Sunday school class and their kids? Could this scripture be reminding us that what you and I do is not just for now?  It continues to be a work in progress, the domino effect of which we will not see and realize until we watch the video in Heaven. It might look like a little thing now, but its effect could be infinitesimal.  

And it makes you ponder backwards too: whose work in progress are you a part of that started a long time ago?

If this isn't something new or profound to you, I won't be disappointed or surprised.  It won't be the first time I have realized that I'm a slow learner.

May you be blessed with the encouragement that I have received from finally getting bonked on the head with a wider reality of an old idea.