We're Just Unfinished

 By: Joanne Viola

 

“So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.”
(Romans 10:17, NASB)

“ For I am confident of this very thing,
that He who began a good work in you
will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.”
(Philippians 1:6, NASB)

In the early morning light, the two Scriptures combined boiled it down to one simple truth  …

The more we hear [read] God’s Word, the more our faith will grow.

We need to remain teachable and open to the correction of God’s Word through the working of His Holy Spirit. God will continue to work in our lives for all of our days.

He is still working in us. God takes the initiative in our lives and can be trusted to complete that which He starts. We must remember this process of growth in our lives is just that – a process – an ongoing work or project.

In this verse, Paul looks back to the beginning of God’s work in our lives (our salvation) and then looks all the way forward, into eternity, to the completion of the process which will occur at the end of the age, which is when Christ returns.

“God not only initiates salvation, but continues it and guarantees its consummation … Paul is asserting that God will bring his work to completion. Nothing in this life or after death will prevent the successful accomplishment of God’s good work in every Christian.”

(from The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, Volume 11, page 105)

God is committed to finish that which He starts. It is a process and whether in us as individuals, or in a ministry, it is an ongoing process. We may be unfinished but He is still at work in us. Nothing can keep God from successfully accomplishing His good work. Nothing.

“Who will separate us from the love of Christ?
Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine,
or nakedness, or peril, or sword?”
(Romans 8:35, NASB)

And the answer is:

“For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities,
nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height,
nor depth, nor any other created thing,
will be able to separate us from the love of God,
which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
(Romans 8:38, 39b, NASB)

We must be we convinced. Nothing will ever be able to separate us from God’s vast love for us and because of His love for us, He is committed to finish what He has started in our lives.

“So I’ll celebrate the truth
His work in me ain’t through
I’m just unfinished!”
(from Unfinished by Mandisa)

Prayer: Lord, this morning we praise You, and thank You, for You are ever at work in our lives. Your work is never done and yet, You never give up on us. Thank You for being committed to keep on faithfully and purposefully working in us. Give us an unquenchable desire for Your Word, but more so, help us to always be teachable, changing and growing under Your tutelage. Amen.

 

Reflection: 

What causes you to forget that you are a work in progress? Take time today to read the shared verses above, perhaps even aloud, as a reminder that you are just unfinished. 

Photo by Rifqi Ali Ridho on Unsplash