The End? Or the Beginning?

Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting - Psalm 139:23–24

Sometimes what seems like the end of something is really just the beginning.

David asks God to search his heart and, with that, brings his Psalm to a close. Abraham, as we’ll see this Sunday, listens to God and obeys him. Our long process of discerning new elders will finally have an answer when we vote after the service. And in the Christian life, our long wrestle with self-reliance finishes when we yield to Christ in repentance and faith.

End of story? Far from it.

David describes the life of faith as being led in “the way everlasting”. We often read this simply as the moral path that leads to heaven. But “everlasting” doesn’t just point forward to a future beyond this life. The Hebrew word “olam” also means forever, or ancient. David is recognising that life with God is an ongoing adventure mapped out long before us, where every conclusion is the dawn of something new.

When God called Abraham to the promised land, the physical journey is wrapped up in a single verse (Genesis 12:5). But the real adventure; the way of faith-based righteousness that would become the template for all of God’s people; was only beginning.

When new elders are voted in, ordained and installed, their election is not the finish line. It’s the start of a fresh leg on an ancient road: a calling of servant leadership walked by generations before them, and by Christ himself.

And when someone comes to Christ, or puts a recurring sin to death, that moment of repentance is not the end. They are setting out afresh with our Lord, who tells us, “Follow me”.

As God calls us this week, it’s not merely to an isolated moment with him, but to take the next step on an epic adventure with countless others who are journeying too.

Where is he calling you to take the next step today?

Blessings,

Geoff