VerseReflections

Paul described people who cannot stop reaching. They love money, and it has slowly hollowed them out. It is the water most of us swim in every day, often without noticing.

And then he turns and two words change the direction of everything: "but you".

There is such tenderness in that turn. The whole world moves one way, chasing the same tired things, and God gently sets us apart. But you. God knows our names, and calls us something remarkable: people of God. The phrase means simply people who now belong wholly to God. It is the same title once given to Moses and Elijah, offered now to ordinary believers like us. Not for anything we have achieved, but because of who has claimed us.

Then Paul names the shape of a life held by God. There are things to set down, and things to move toward. We do not have to wrestle forever with what is wearing us down. We can turn from it, and let it go.

And we can turn toward what is good. Righteousness. Godliness. Faith. Love. Steadfastness. Gentleness. That last one is easy to overlook. After everything, God asks us to be gentle, with others and with ourselves. Strength and gentleness were never enemies. They meet in Christ, and they are meant to meet in us.

The life of faith is called a good fight, and some seasons of it are hard. Not a losing fight. A good one. If we are weary tonight, it does not mean we are failing. It may only mean we are still walking the road.

And take hold of eternal life. Not someday, off in the distance. Now, with open hands. We did not begin this on our own. Before we took a single step, we were already called, and something true was set in motion in us, long before we understood all it would mean.