Turning 30 (no, really)

I turned 30 this month!

That's right, this month in 1978, I called Jesus my Lord for the first time and asked him

1. to save me from my sins and their eternal consequences, and
2. to be my Lord and Master.

And according to the New Testament I was born a second time then.

The way I sometimes express it is to say I was traveling down the road of life, and Jesus was at a crossroads, indicating he'd like to go the way of life with me. I thought about it (quite a while actually) and decided I'd like that. So I reached over and opened the passenger-side door and he gave me one of those looks -- you know, a look that tells you that you've just blown it.

Of course he wanted to drive. (I actually knew this -- that's why I took so long thinking about it.) So I got into the passenger seat and Jesus drove; he got the accelerator, the wheel, and the brake. Sometimes I try to grab the wheel back, or pull on the emergency brake, and inevitably my "improvements" to his plan cause trouble. But he promised that even the worst of my goof-ups wouldn't take us off a cliff.

So is Jesus still driving? As I get older, I like to think that I'm interfering with his driving less and less, but unfortunately it's a "three steps forward, two steps back" kind of thing -- or the reverse. Do I worry less? Depends on the day. As the Apostle Paul said in 2 Corinthians 11, "And apart from other things there is the constant pressure every day of my anxiety for all the churches."

And about those other things -- love, joy, peace, patience and so on -- well, I hope I'm growing in those, but do you know what? Those are fruit of the Spirit, not a wage/salary kind of deal. Paul said, "it is no longer I who live but Christ lives in me" -- so he gets the credit for any changes in my life and for any good that comes from it. Well, if he's driving, then it makes sense that he gets the credit for where we end up.

And so I'm a thankful guy today.