I Want More

My pastor recently defined salvation as God making everything right—creation, relationships, us. How I long for that day. I weary of this human nature that leads me away from the God I love. I tire of the battle between my flesh and his indwelling Spirit. I continue to fail in compassion, forgiveness, and love. I harbor resentment, seek revenge instead of grace, and do good deeds from wrong motivations.

I know his forgiveness, in that rich grace, covers the payment for such sins, but I want more. I want something new; I want redemption. I desire that new heart promised me. I long for the return of Christ, when he will restore me to his beautiful, loving, holy image. He will permanently remove my weary, sin-laden heart and replace it with a heart of life, beauty, and holiness. In that day, I will receive a glorified body. A body free from wrinkles, free from aches and pains, free from all effects of sin. No sorrow. No tears. No sin. God will make everything new. I will love without demand, exude kindness without deceit, live in the Spirit without a battle.

So each day, I wait. I hope for the return of the Savior whose words are trustworthy and true. He remembers his promise. This redemptive process he has begun, he will complete. Even now, God works, forming his heart in me. Slowly, I mature in godliness. And while I, with the rest of creation, groan, he labors to accomplish redemption. So I yield to God’s wisdom, to his present and future work in me, in creation, in the world.