It happens every year about this time. There is the smell of
newly sharpened pencils in the air. Old and outgrown clothes are being replaced
with this year’s latest styles. Students are reveling in that “new backpack”
scent similar to the way their parents savored the first few weeks of driving
in the new mini-van. Every tree quivers in its roots fearing that its lasting
contribution to the ecosystem will be either “wide ruled” or “college ruled.”
It’s back to school time. For the first 20-something years of
our lives, we are marked by this rhythm: August to December followed by a
break, January to March with a little break, and April – May followed by a long
break for the summer. We enjoy the summer sabbatical only to gear up to do it
all over again.
At some point, however, we receive a piece of paper that
says we are adults, that someone should give us a job, and that we should move
out of our parents’ house. To help ease the violence of that transition we are
given 2 week of vacation. Thanks corporate America. No more fall breaks, Christmas
breaks, spring breaks, or summer sabbaticals. Welcome to the real world.
As a graduate student I had one foot in the rhythm of work
and one foot in the rhythm of learning. I’m now almost a decade removed from
any connection to this way of life, and I’m finding that exchanging these rhythms
impedes our ability to be “life-long learners.” This is detrimental to our walk
with God because at no point in my faith journey will I will receive a piece of
paper from God that says: “Be it known to
all present that John Mark Snodgrass has completed the courses and requirements
necessary to be fully restored in the image of God and is Christ-like in every
way.”
I’m afraid that many of us function as if the moment of
forgiveness is the terminal experience of the Christian life. A prayer of
confession, the act of repentance, and the sacrament of baptism are not the
complete fulfillment of God’s purposes for our lives. These moments are not the
end, but only the beginning of what God wants to do.
Let's try something different this school year. With the smell of freshly sharpened lead in the
air and with the sound of diesel powered buses rolling through our neighborhoods
at ungodly hours of the morning let’s approach each new day as an opportunity
to draw closer to God. In Scripture, this is called sanctification. It’s God’s
way of finishing that which he started the moment you gave your life to Him, and there is a certain rhythm to His work. I pray that we would not be so caught up in the rhythms of this world that we miss the best God has for us.
If you have kids in school this new school year will provide reference points to remind you of God's work of sanctification. For me it will be the early morning walks to the bus stop. I hope to fill those walks with this thought to keep me in rhythm with God's purposes for my life:
"Being confident of 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)
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