“A little more kindness, a little less speed, a little more giving, a little less greed, a little more smile, a little less frown, a little less kicking, a man while he’s down, a little more “we”, a little less “i”, a little more laugh, a little less cry, a little more flowers, on the pathway of life, and fewer on graves, at the end of the strife.”
Mark Twain
As I was driving into work, I noted that the misfiring/coughing sound my car had been making was a little less annoying. It wasn’t gone, but it was a little better. When I poured the golden elixir into my empty gas tank and filled up with fresh gas, I had hoped for an instant cure. No such luck. So, it was day five and over half a tank later, and it was still hesitating, but a little less every day.
I feel the same way about the yoga exercises I have been doing. It’s a 30-day back strengthening set of videos that are 6-16 minutes long, depending on the day. I am on day 26 today. All week my legs have been complaining because there were a lot of squats in the last few videos. The same day I noticed the car was a little better, I noticed my legs were a little less tight and sore.
But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you.
1 Peter 5:10
There is a song we used to sing in church, especially the children, titled God’s Still Working on Me. However, it is not just for children. God is still working on all of us, and as much as we would like it to be an instant cure, it is not. Our salvation is instant the moment that we accept Christ as Lord, but our salvation is also being worked out in us as we go day to day.
12 Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. 13 Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, 14 I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 3:12-14
It’s a process that gets a little better every day. Like the apostle Paul and Mark Twain, I hope to do a little better every day as I aim toward a higher goal. Many days I want to roll over in bed and go back to sleep, but as Proverbs warns us:
10 Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep: 11 So shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth, and thy want as an armed man.
Proverbs 6:10-11
Not to mention those muscles won’t get any better if I don’t work out the soreness. So, on my day off, I am up and writing this post before my coffee has finished brewing. It’s a testament to God’s grace that He made this one flow quickly this morning when He knows I have to work on my day off. Maybe I will be a little less sore today and my car a little less cranky, and maybe we will all be a little more Christ like today.