Week 49 Philippians 2
Paul makes an interesting comment about how following the Lord is a collaborative venture: continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.
So following the Lord isn’t a one-sided affair. There’s Part 1: I work hard to do my part. And Part 2: the Lord works on his part. There’s a partnership (me working out and the Lord working in).
I don’t have comprehensive knowledge about the Lord’s side of things (what-all his working-in-me involves) – but I figure it’s safe to say that he’s taking adequate care of his part of the effort so as to (as Paul says) fulfill his good purpose.
My bigger concern (maybe my only concern) is my side of the deal. The department I’m running. Me.
I realize I have to be incentivized to work my side (I also know that having the inclination & the want-to-ness & the appetite isn’t an automatic state-of-mind for me). Plus…even with the motivation I have to actually act – do some things that are contributing to my being a follower of the Lord.
I figure that one simple & general & realistic rule on the practical side of doing-my-part is: Doing What I Can Realistically Do. One example: I can start to tell the truth regularly. That’s a fairly do-able starter. I’m pretty sure that when I’m not lying I’m working-out.
Note: quote from Philippians 2:12-13 (NIV)