Monday’s New Yorker Cartoon features a man walking with five Fitbits on each arm. He says to the woman walking with him, “People pay me to put steps on their Fitbits.” Just as we cannot exercise for another we cannot diet for another. We cannot learn for another nor sleep for another. There were days when I wished another could and would take chemotherapy for me. However, there are some things we can do for another. We can pay another’s debts. We can drive another’s car. The list is infinite.
My favorite “what someone can do for another” is found in Romans 5:7-8. “Indeed, rarely will anyone die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person someone might actually dare to die. But God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us.”
How about that! Isn’t that the best ever? Just as the man in the cartoon put steps on another’s Fitbit so Jesus puts righteousness on and in our characters. That makes us better than we are. I realize that statement borders on nonsense. But, the truth is it works. We are in God’s eyes as perfect as Jesus is perfect the moment we accept the gift of God’s grace. That makes us better than we are. However, we will not be content to remain as we are. The quest for righteousness begins. We are justified by His grace and by His power we are sanctified as we grow into His likeness. This is a mystery – the mystery of righteousness. How is it that God could take someones like us and make us perfect? I don’t know, but I will not argue about it. It is just too wonderful.
Oh, by the way. I put ten thousand steps on my Fitbit today.
Spring Of Life