Misconception

I remember that Tuesday afternoon trip to the altar at Asbury College.  What was to become known as the Asbury Revival had broken out in our midst at the morning 10:00 o'clock chapel service. Like hundreds of others, I had been glued to my seat.  The call to give myself wholly to God finally became so strong that I pulled myself from my spectator perch and became a participant.  Perhaps, a hungry seeker is a better word.  Nonetheless, I went to kneel once again at an altar seeking after God who was calling and revealing Himself as He had for such a long time.

 

When I left the altar, I knew then, and continue to know even now that a significant work of grace had taken place in my heart.  Back then I thought I was done.  I thought the moment had such far reaching power into the days ahead that my spiritual shortfalls were over.  Surely, responding to God's call to live a holy life would take care of all that was ahead.  But, as I have often been, I was wrong.  It set me on a course of life which has sustained me through the years, but not one which has protected me from straying from it.  Fortunately, the mercy I found that day at the altar has been even more abundant in the years which have followed.

 

To live and walk by the Spirit, as we are called to live by the Word in Galatians, is not an end, but a life long event.  As is the case with any walk, the possibility for stumbling is always present.  But, this Holy Spirit who dwells within us is quick to point out where we have missed the mark, sometimes before we do, but most assuredly afterwards.  The Spirit convicts us of the sin in our life so that we can do something about it before it takes root and starts to have power over us once again.  As the Word tells us, we choose the power to which we will submit our lives.   It is either the power of sin, or the power of the Holy Spirit.