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Not that I have already obtained it or have already become perfect, but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus.

Philippians 3:12, LSB

 As a kid, my father used to tell me that one should never rest on their laurels. This meant that we should never feel that all that we have done in the past should justify our inaction in the future. This principle is a tiresome concept because it honestly would be nice to sit back and relax, but God warns us of this also. Jesus’ parable of the wealthy farmer who built large storage buildings to store the fruit of his labor only to die the day after it was completed, is a sign we should never feel our work is complete. Our dependence is not on our doing but on Christ’s. We are confident in our salvation because of our confidence in Christ not in our righteousness. There is never a point where we are good enough. The good that is being worked in us is constant and continuous as we walk on this earth and if there is breath in our lungs the work is incomplete. We should not despair because hope remains, and the promise is ever present before us. We are called to not lose sight of it and think it is something we have earned but stand in constant awareness of the gracious gift it truly is. It is the reality of our Lord and how He is the one who has chosen us, and it is in Him alone we may find our peace.

Let us pray. I thank you, my heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ, your dear Son, that you have kept me this night from all harm and danger, and I ask you to protect me this day also from sin and every evil, that in all I do today, I may please you. For into your hands, I commend myself, my body and soul, and all that is mine. Let your holy angel watch over me, that the wicked foe have no power over me. Amen.