Rest my child

For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. 2 Corinthians 5:21


We all typically grasp the fact that Jesus took on our sins. He bore our pain, suffering and restlessness. And because of that we are given the gift of heaven and there we have our simple gospel message, right?

He took on our sin, but he also imputed his perfect righteousness to us. "..The basis for the progressive realization of God's righteousness in our moral character. Our thoughts and deeds are sanctified in increasing measure until we receive perfect righteousness in heaven."

We get the "big picture" of our salvation but if we were to be asked, "Are you confident that the Lord would say of your life, 'It is good'?" What would our responses tell us? Are we choosing to believe in the part of our salvation where Jesus took on our sin, but forget the righteousness instilled to us, and skip to eternity?

By missing this, we find no rest. By missing this, we are trying to accomplish a work that has already been completed. We look over the work of our hands, the words of our lips, and the attitudes of our hearts and we are continually reminded that it is not good. And we believe it's not good, so we struggle to "make it better", to do better. Through self, we can't make a single thing better. The only way we can find rest from these shortcomings is in the works which are infinitely good and in His already finished work.

For myself, this is easier to type than to live out in my life. See, I like to romanticize my future. I like to linger on the idea of a future home, future family, husband, dog named Duke, and a wrap around porch. But by doing that, I am lingering on a thought that makes me feel inadequate on any given day. Like I need to do more in order to be someone's potential wife. I need to save more to have that beautiful home. I need to do, do, do. But all Christ wants me to do is sit on His lap and simply rest. Leave the perfectly pinterested life in my dreams and be assured that my future is matchless. Pinterest can't top what my life will look like.

Though I try, I can't shape tomorrow. He has already shaped every single one of my days. Because he has endowed his perfect righteousness to us, I am able to rest in Him; knowing that every one of my days will be perfectly orchestrated by God and no amount of worry, restlessness or romanticizing can change that.