so I was flying the other day...

Okay, so I'm really not the type of guy to talk to the strangers sitting next to me on a plane, but on the way back from Urbana (actually Kansas City, MO) to my home in Seattle about a month and a half ago I had not one but two amazing interactions. 


Actually, it all started when we were catching our transfer in Minneapolis. We had been delayed a bit in Kansas City, so we ran to our gate. Once there they moved me away from my other team members to this great row: not only was it an exit row, but it was THE exit row (that is the row where there are no other seats in front of you, AND your seat reclines. Practically first class). 


So I settled in comfortably, pulled out my book in case I felt like reading, and waited for our flight to take off. It turned out, though, that in these particular kinds of rows the flight attendants often sit directly across from you in these fold up seats just for them. When two attendants sat down in front of me, at first I just did my best to avoid eye contact with them, even though they were sitting just a few feet directly across from me. Then I just kind of got hit by the thought that I was sitting across from two of God's children, and at the very least I should greet them and ask them how things were going.

Well, it turned out that one of them happened to be a new Christian living in Seattle, and she had met Jesus Christ through one of her coworkers, who happened to be the lead flight attendant on our flight from Minneapolis to Seattle. This coworker was actually a leader of a Christian fellowship in Seattle, and was very active in ministry. She brought her over to meet me (I mentioned that I was a pastor), and we had an awesome time of fellowship, sharing about our stories, encouraging one another, and they blessed me by leaving me with a verse: 1 Peter 1:1-9.

It seemed clear to me that God didn't just give me this verse randomly, so for the first time in awhile I decided to begin memorizing some scripture. The funny thing is, after I started I realized that I was actually memorizing 2 Peter 1! Well, I was a few verses in at that point, and I was receiving a lot from God through what I was memorizing, so I decided to stick with it. (Funny how God uses our mistakes, right? Take that, perfectionists!)    And what I'm sharing with you today comes out of that passage.

2 Peter 1:8 and 10 read like this: "For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they will keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ...Therefore, be all the more diligent to make your calling and election sure, for if you practice these qualities, you will never fall."

God really reached me with his love when I realized that it wasn't through works that I was accepted by him, but by His grace alone. But I'm realizing more and more that, once accepted by him, it is through the "practicing of qualities" that I become a more effective instrument in his hands. Like the difference between a violin that practically sings on its own versus one that even a maestro cannot coax music out of, there are things that we can be doing as followers of Christ to become more effective at pointing others towards God.

And what are these qualities? According to Peter (the 2nd that is) they are these:
* Faith
* Virtue
* Knowledge
* Self-control
* Steadfastness
* Godliness
* Platonic Affection
* Love

For those of you who follow Jesus Christ and are sure of God's love for you, have you ever thought about practicing and developing these qualities? Like Olympic athletes, we are to work on these spiritual muscles, training ourselves. And that takes discipline.

Discipline has no place in trying to reach God. We can never reach him on our own effort. But once we realize that he has already done all of the work, that we now have unobstructed access to Him, discipline has a very large role in our lives. It is through disciplined training that we become clearer windows through which others can see God at work in the world.

Sometimes reading the Bible can be a pain. Sometimes taking a chunk out of your day to pray (even if it's only 15 or 30 minutes) can seem terribly inconvenient. Sometimes saying no to something can be so hard. But that's the nature of disciplining ourselves, and if we truly want to see God do amazing things, we should be preparing ourselves to take part in them.

I mentioned that I had two amazing interactions. We don't have room for the second story, however, so that'll have to wait for another day.