Complete in Him

Have you ever wanted to know an answer to something? Maybe it was knowing God’s will for you. Maybe it was a cure for an illness. Maybe it was an answer to a situation about yourself. I have, and so did Christian in “Pilgrims Progress.”

The news had spread far and wide, “Christian has escaped!”

 A gentleman by the name of Mr. Worldly-wisman, who lived in a town nearby, saw Christian from a distance and knew it was he that everyone was talking about, especially when he saw Christian covered in mud, and carrying a burden on his back.

Mr. Worldly-wisman asked, “Would you like to get rid of your burden quickly?”

Christian, replied, “Yes, but I have been given a direction to go where my burden will fall off.”

Mr. Worldly-wisman advised him,

“If you take this way you will likely meet with fatigue, pain, hunger, dangers, nakedness, swords, lions, dragons, darkness, and, in a word, death. This is the truth. and it has been confirmed by many testimonies.”

It is true, the patient path given to Christian meant he would have to suffer, “fatigue, pain, hunger, dangers attacks from lions, and dragons.”

I once was told, if I come to Jesus, He will help me with everything. I did not believe this to be entirely true, especially in the area of relationships, and insecurities.

Since as a child, I struggled with low self-esteem. I never felt good enough. This led me to present myself more than I was in my interactions with people. For years, I lacked confidence, and my personality was made up of people I admired, and the issue was I did not know how to break out. Because I was used to presenting myself a certain way, I could not relax into my natural self without the fear of judgment.

This struggle led me to purchase self-help books to build myself up. But many of them were filled with selfish mannerism, like “if you do this, say that, and dress like this you will have this effect on her, or them.”

Later I was convicted; these self-help books are no different from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. The tree Eve was enticed to eat from was all centred-on self-improvement, she was not content with who she was.

During that period, I heard a message that changed everything from Charles Spurgeon,

 “When you spend time with Jesus, He will influence you to be all that you should be to everyone, without being too excessive and too little, but just right.”

This was what I was lacking, and the other issue was I had not yet found my identity in Christ. I wanted fast results like Christian, instead of walking to the cross, and spending time with Jesus, until I was transformed into the man I was created to be.

Colossians 2:10 says, “And ye are complete in Him.”

When we come to Jesus He sifts out, refines what should remain, and what should be removed from our character.

 I have not reached that stage, but I am pressing on by the grace He extends to me. So, press on my friend until that perfect day when we shall be as He is.