So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, for we walk by faith, not by sight. 2 Corinthians 5:6-7, ESV

 

It’s December and the Season of Advent is almost upon us. It’s time for a very special journey of faith and anticipation as we reflect each day on the theme, “In step with God”. As we consider the verse each day and welcome the faith-filled characters who reappear each year in Advent, our challenge is to make walking in step with God our own reality, and to grow in faith. For Paul reminds us: “What we see now is like a dim image in a mirror, then we shall see face-to-face. What I know now is only partial; then it will be complete – as complete as God’s knowledge of me.” (1 Corinthians 13:12, GNT)

 

God is the only One who knows the end from the beginning, and fully knows us. Following him will result in ever-increasing knowledge of him and his ways and he will lead us as we focus on him and walk in harmony with his will.

 

When we see what it takes to achieve success in everyday life, we recognise that nothing just falls into place by chance. It has to be worked at and there has to be a “mastermind” who knows the plan and coaches the rest. Success, from beginning to end, hinges on how committed and teachable a person is.

 

Dancers performing a routine very obviously exemplify this co-operation as they work together to keep perfect time and produce beautiful effects; so do soldiers marching in a military parade with impressive precision. But when it comes to the unruly play of rugby players on a pitch, it’s more subtle – yet the team most in step with the coach, and each other, usually wins the day.

 

Our relationship with God is no different even though we may not be able to see him or understand everything now; but when we commit to walking with him, despite that, our faith will grow exponentially. Like rugby players, we need to trust the Coach and follow his lead, but we have to “walk by faith, not by sight” (2 Corinthians 5:7) if we are to walk with him at all. This pertains to everything now and in eternity.

 

What Paul tells the Corinthians in today’s verse relates directly to the importance of developing our understanding of an eternal God and trusting him unswervingly. We need to “… fix our attention, not on things that are seen, but on things that are unseen [because] what can be seen lasts only for a time, but what cannot be seen lasts forever.” (2 Corinthians 4:18, GNT)

 

Where are you on your journey?

 

Prayer: Father God, thank you for the beauty of your Spirit so evident in this Season. Help me to grow each day as we anticipate the coming of the King of kings as the precious Baby of Bethlehem in a way that honours him and leads to an ever-deepening of our faith. Amen