the STEP

The road to being Christlike is not an easy one. Its like a stairway that leads to heavenly places. You walk up the steps of the stairway which are the days in your life and you realize how far you have come. You remember when you were quick to anger and you are not anymore. You remember when you were quick to debate and quarrel and you don't anymore. You remember when you would hold grudges and for the life of you, you can't remember a single grudge you have. Feeling proud, you say to yourself,


"Wow, I have come so far. I must be close. I must be close to being like my teacher, the savior who stands at the top of the stairs."

You look around you and you see other stairways with people climbing up. You even see some stairways with people walking down. Again with pride and now with some added jealousy, you say to yourself,

"Well hey, I am a lot farther than that poor guy, who can't hardly walk up a single step" or "Man, look at that lady, she's sprinting up the stairs and is surprassing me."

As you walk up, you come across a step that reads,

"Is the goal to look at each other to be like each other? Or is the goal to be like the teacher?"

Luke 6:39-40: "Can a blind man lead a blind man? Will they not both fall into a pit? A student is not above his teacher, but everyone who is fully trained will be like his teacher."

So you stop looking back at where you came from and you stop looking at others and you finally look up to your teacher, who stands at the top of the stairway. The long way up is humbling and makes you realize you have a far way to go. You feel naked and embarrased because your teacher is perfect and you are not. He is good. You are not. He is love in action and you...most certainly are not. With one foot on a step above, you try to climb, but you can't. You've stopped. You feel ashamed of how you are no where near the likeness of your teacher and you stop. You proclaim your feelings of shame. You feel you are nothing so you stop. You feel you will never reach the likeness of your Christ. You are lame and unable to move.

Romans 5:8, "But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us."

And while you are still paralized in shame, you hear the teacher's voice. He calls you his love and beckones you,

"Come."

"Follow Me."

Your shame turns into repentence and His forgivenes covers your nakedness allowing you to once again focus on the truth. The truth is that you can be like your teacher.

Luke 6:40: "...but everyone who is fully trained will be like his teacher."

So you look in his eyes and with clear focus on him, you take the next step up and proceed to follow your teacher.