December 1st, 2019

I Want It All”, was a song that the rock band Queen introduced in 1989. That was the title, and that was the chorus. “I want it all, I want it all, I want it all, and I want it now.” But it is pretty clear that Freddie Mercury wasn’t the only one who wanted it all, and wanted it now. That is human nature, isn’t it? And aside from wanting all the stuff, and wanting it now, that attitude seeps into almost every arena of our lives. I mean, here in a about a month, millions of people will make New Year’s resolutions, most of which will never make it past the 2nd week of 2020. Why? Because we want it all, and we want it now. We want to lose weight, but we don’t want to wait for it, we want to lose it all, and we want to lose it now! We want to get in shape, but we want to look like Lou Ferrigno, and we want it now! But it’s not just New Year’s resolutions either. Think about it, we start something new, and we want to be experts, immediately. We start a new job, and we want to know everything, and do it well, now. And while there is nothing wrong with wanting to give our best, and be our best, our attitude of wanting it all, and wanting it now, creates pressure, and often results in failure. It doesn’t matter if you are talking about losing weight, getting in shape, learning a new skill, saving for retirement, working for a promotion, trying to kick a bad habit, or hoping to start a good one, the process is the same. One step at a time. Any of us who have ever had kids, know that they have to walk before they run, crawl before they walk, and that all begins with a thousand little “steps” along the way.
And it is no different with our spiritual walk. When we want to spiritually “have it all” and “have it now”, we create pressure on ourselves, and others, and increase the chances that we get frustrated, and overwhelmed. We have all heard the old Chinese proverb, “A journey of a thousand miles begins with one step”, and we need to learn to apply it in our lives, and in our spiritual walk. And if you don’t believe me, all you have to do is look at the disciples. For 3+ years they walked with Jesus, learning every day. They weren’t perfect followers on day one, in fact, they had their fair share of mis-steps, mistakes, and failures, but they kept following. Today, we look at what they did, we read what they wrote, we marvel at their faith, and we call them examples to follow, as we seek to follow Jesus ourselves.
I know it is human nature to want it all, and to want it now, but that’s just not how it happens. So, let’s make a commitment to one another. Not looking 10 years down the road, or even 10 days, but getting up this morning, and asking the Holy Spirit for the guidance, the strength, and the wisdom to be the best Christian we can be… today. Make a commitment today, to do one thing , as it relates to your faith, better than you did yesterday. And if you aren’t a Christian yet, don’t buy into the lie that you have to have your life all together, and know everything before you can be. Jesus never asks us to be perfect, He just asks us to make the commitment to getting better, one step at a time.