Day 2065 of the 7 day Bible verse challenge.

Isaiah 55:6 NIV

I heard this idea earlier this morning, and it's one of those that instantly just changed things. Running away from something only works for a little while. Running toward something will keep us going forever. To me that just speaks volumes to so many different things in life, but it fits our faith as well. So I figured if it hit me that hard then maybe it could be something someone else could use too.

Personally, I've actually noticed this in my own walk lately without really even thinking about it. When I first started down the road of faith I was trying to run away from the miserable feeling that sin gives you. I was trying to find a way to get away from the shame and regret of my past choices. And it worked, but with as much as we all mess up, it can be easy to just see faith as a way to run away from our mistakes.

Running away from our messes doesn't really help us fix them. It leaves the underlying issues unresolved, and therefore always there to pop back up and cause us to stumble again. So running away from our mistakes or the pain that sin causes is fine and it works. But it won't work forever because it just gets old running away from our mistakes only to make new ones. Thankfully, there's far more to faith than that!

It's not about running away from our mistakes or the shame they cause. It's about running toward Christ. And that's really what I've noticed personally here lately. I find myself focusing less on getting away from my mistakes and far more on simply growing toward Jesus. I know what the mistakes are, and if that's all I focus on then I'm still giving them power over me. But by truly leaving them behind and not giving them any more room in my life then I can more fully focus on the opportunity to grow toward something better.

Guys, this faith is about a relationship with the One who loves us no matter what. It isn't about figuring out a way to outwit the sin that has always managed to trip us up. It's not being motivated to stop feeling bad. It's about being motivated to do better because Jesus showed us that we're worth more than sin by dying on the cross. 

If our ultimate goal is to just sin less, then we're eventually going to get tired of trying because we're always going to mess up. But if our goal is to know Christ more and more, then we will never quit because we're chasing a goal that has no finish line. And that's the kind of goal that keeps you going!