Christmas is almost upon us. I love this time of year because Advent is just an awesome opportunity to reflect on the great love and mercy God has for us. We get to spend 5 weeks intentionally marinating in this love and mercy of God. This time of worship in celebration of the first Advent (coming) of Jesus also prepares us to look with hope and anticipation for His second Advent.
Christmas also means presents…that may not be the focus or most important thing but it still is a part of our celebration time. This year I decided to take back up my old forgotten hobby of cross-stitching and make my wife, Teri, a gift. As I always do with projects of this type I bit off more than I could chew and I probably will not finish before Christmas (sorry Teri…). As I have been working on it though I have had something of an epiphany (other than I am a true Renaissance man now with my ability to sew).
The Christian sanctification process is similar to a counted cross-stitch design. In counted cross-stitching, you are given a picture of what your finished project will look like and also a pattern that lays out how to complete this project. To start the project, however, you start with a blank piece of cloth and choose a first stitch (I generally count to the middle of the pattern because it is easy to find the middle of the cloth). From here you slowly begin to fill in section by section wondering all the while how it is ever going to “look like the picture” but trusting the process that will lead you there.
Section builds upon section and eventually some discernable pattern can be recognized and as this process continues it becomes obvious that all your work will actually look like the pattern that the designer created for you. Finally, you finish the project and even though you knew the entire time what it would look like there is a sense of confirmation that the designer’s vision was a good one.
Brothers and sisters, the sanctification path that God has created for you is similar. He has a completed picture of who you will be at the end of your life and it is beautiful. He has given you a pattern to follow via His scriptures and the Holy Spirit dwelling inside of you. We know that this process is meant to conform us into the image of His Son, Jesus Christ. Our day-to-day life are the individual sections that don’t always seem to make sense… “How is this adding to the picture you have for me, God?”
Sometimes it takes completing two or three further sections before it makes sense how this particular section works itself into the completed design. But with each section that is completed there is greater and greater trust that the Designer really did provide a legitimate pattern to follow to get to the completed picture of who He created us to be. When we get to the end, we are in full agreement with the Designer that the pattern was right all along and there were no trivial or mistake sections in the pattern.
And we know that in all things God works together for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose. For those God foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. And those He predestined, He also called; those He called, He also justified; those He justified, He also glorified. (Romans 8:28-30)
Can I encourage you all today that the counted cross-stitch pattern God has designed for your life is an amazing one?! There will be tangles and accidental knots in the thread. There will be mistakes made along the way that may require backtracking and pulling out stitches but I am confident that the Designer gave you a pattern that you are capable of completing. Read your Bible. Pray and follow the prompting of the Holy Spirit. Seek out council from the godly individuals God has placed in your life. If there is a particular section of your pattern that just isn’t making sense, I would love to help if I am able. Blessings to you all this Advent season…Merry Christmas!
