Day 42, April 16

“Father, I entrust my spirit into your hands!” –Luke 23:46

Anyone who does not remain in me is thrown away like a useless branch and withers. Such branches are gathered into a pile to be burned. But if you remain in me and my words remain in you, you may ask for anything you want, and it will be granted! When you produce much fruit, you are my true disciples. This brings great glory to my Father. (John 15:6–8 NLT)

The Greek philosopher Zeno is famous for a number of paradoxes, one of which concerns the perceived mathematical impossibility of arriving at any given destination. In this thought experiment, a person wanting to travel from Point A to Point B must first travel half the distance. Once completed, she must travel half the remaining distance, then half of that distance, again and again. Considering there are an infinite number of points between Point A and Point B, this traveler will be able to get ever closer to her destination, but never actually arrive. Obviously this isn’t how things work out in the real world, hence why it is considered a paradox.

This is a small picture of what our path of spiritual formation should look like. As we journey toward Christlikeness, producing much fruit in the process, we come to understand that we will never truly be perfect representations of Christ in this world. Yet that does not mean our journey does not move us closer to the goal. As we come to rely on Christ more and more, trust more deeply in the Father, and listen ever more closely to the voice of the Spirit—as the inner character of Christ becomes more formed into our own inner characters—we will more clearly reflect Him in our lives and in our world. We will never reach Point B, but we can get pretty close. Spend time reflecting on where God has brought you from—the journey so far—and invite Him to show you the next leg of the journey ahead.

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