It was not the best of days. My son had come home with yet another discipline notice from school. He had not finished his work (or even attempted to). He was in a bad mood all evening. I was upset with him and honestly felt that I was a failure as a mother because my child was in trouble, and I thought he should have known better. Because we had church that evening, we ate dinner as quickly as humanly possible and piled into the car. Our pastor was preaching about faith once again. That night, he had us turn to Philippians 1. He preached about many different things, but I was captivated by verse 6, which says, Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:
I was reminded that God had begun a good work in my son. See, just last year, he asked me to show him how to get saved. Actually, he asked me, and asked me, and asked me (about five times in the space of an hour and a half) and just would not let it go! I sat at our kitchen table after lunch and showed him verses from the Bible about how he was a sinner. When asked if he was, he replied, “Of course!” Then I showed him the verses about Jesus dying on the cross for him, and he prayed and asked Jesus to come into his heart.
At that time, God really began to work in his heart, and it was evident. My son was by no means perfect (see story above), but he was a different child. He wanted to witness to everyone he met and handed out tracts all of the time; however, God isn’t finished with him. He is continuing to shape him and mold him into the image of Jesus Christ.
He is not finished with me (or you) either. He continues to shape us and mold us. Romans 8:29 tells us, For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. God has predetermined that we will be in the image of Jesus Christ, but we are a work in progress. He will continue to perform this reshaping and remolding until the day He returns or calls us home. He is not finished with us, and He is not finished with those around us either. Maybe we would have a little more compassion toward others if we would realize that they, like us, are a work in progress!
by Vicki Voorhis
