Day By Day
Put on your new nature, and be renewed as you learn to know your Creator and become like him. In this new life, it doesn’t matter if you are a Jew or a Gentile, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbaric, uncivilized, slave, or free. Christ is all that matters, and he lives in all of us. Colossians 3:10-11
One of my childhood memories was of a play based upon the Gospel according to Matthew called Godspell. I never went to see the production in New York, where it became popular, but back then, many popular plays would become movies. I saw the movie, and became drawn to one particular song, which became popular enough to make the billboard chart. Now, I admit that I was far too young to fully understand either the words or their meaning, but sometimes God lets things marinate until it’s time to be revealed. It is called Day by Day, and it is based on a prayer that originated back in the 13th Century. The song is a chorus repeated multiple times that simply goes:
Day by Day
Day by Day
Oh, Dear Lord, three things I pray
To see thee more clearly
To love thee more dearly
Follow thee more nearly
Day by Day
I loved the song back then because of the somewhat plain yet beautiful voices of the woman singing and background chorus and the melody. Today? It has become a daily reminder that helps to focus me on what matters most in my journey of faith. With each day, I hope to understand God’s purpose for my life, to display his love for other more, and to resemble a walk far more like Jesus than I did before. Some think I am using this as a replacement or substitute for things like The Lord’s Prayer. Not at all! Instead, it is more an enhancement much like the prayer of serenity. Call it goal setting.
It is important that we set goals for ourselves to grow as Christians. I loved what Paul said here in today’s verses as he was speaking to Colossians who had become born again through Christ. Earlier in the chapter, he said, “Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth. For you died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God.” (Colossians 3:2-3) Today’s verses emphasize the learning process and looking beyond where they started. There is a motto at work I remind my team when they learn something that they are expected to master. I tell them, “It is not where you start that matters. It is how you progress.” When we were born again, all things that happened and things we did before do not matter. What matters most is that we focus on God and continue to grow spiritually. If we are not where we want to be, set a daily goal to move our faith forward. If we are content, set a goal to help another become more content. And if we failed, set a goal to understand where we failed or implement steps to get better going forward. A journey by name is not staying put. It is ever moving toward a destination. Ideally, our journey is moving toward both becoming and exemplifying a representative of Jesus Christ.
We are blessed each and every day with an opportunity to become a better steward of God. It is not always easy. Anything worthwhile rarely is. However, if we are always fixing our eyes on Jesus, we are always finding something more we can be more Christ like in our lives. This goes back to the song I started with and focuses on the word more. We want to see more clearly, love more dearly, and follow more nearly Him every day. As such, let us endeavor meet those goals in our journey of faith. What area of your faith do you need to grow in? What daily, weekly, or monthly goal can you set to ensure that your faith is continually growing? My prayer is we strive to both learn about and become more like Christ day by day. Amen.