on the path

John 8

¹ but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.
   ² At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them. ³ The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group ⁴ and said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. ⁵ In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?” ⁶ They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him.
   But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. ⁷ When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” ⁸ Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.
   ⁹ At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. ¹⁰ Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”
   ¹¹ “No one, sir,” she said.
   “Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.”

***

We are all sinners. By nature. By birth. Well...by Adam and Eve, but whaddya gonna do, right?

We all have pasts. Some good. Some, not so good. You can't outrun them, but you can overcome them.

That's what I am attempting to do. Walk the path. Practice some What would Jesus do?

It's not easy. It's hard. Real hard. Fighting your natural instincts to become better than what you are now.

I am on the path. Slowly learning again what it means to be a true Christian. Not one who pays lip service to the church and to Jesus on random Sundays and holidays. Did I mention it wasn't easy?

I love Jesus Christ. I love becoming a reborn Christian. The feeling is...overwhelming. In a good way. But, it's hard. Hard seeing others you care about not walking the path with you, and knowing what may happen in the end. It's hard seeing your friends stuck in their same destructive circles over and over and over again, and feeling there is no way to get them out. It's hard looking your 7 God-given children in the face and knowing I'm not yet really their stepdad, and that A and I are, according to the Old Testament, living in sin. (Can I get an Amen for the New Testament!)

I was reminded of that sin yesterday. Someone posted that on our a couple bucks & a Bible blog. On our homeless outreach, it's-not-about-us-it's-about-spreading-the-Word-on-the-street blog! It stung. It stung us. And of course, they left their message of attempted derailment "anonymous." I couldn't help but feel Satan had a hand in that. Maybe he didn't...but doubt was clouding my mind all yesterday anyway, and that was the cherry on top of the gross melted sundae.

I am renewed today. I look at the happy faces on that blog of those people who we met. Who Jesus was reunited with....and something good was done that day. No, something great. And we will continue to spread that "great" in the coming days.

I'm on the path. Looking back at my old life only to wave on my family and friends to walk with me.

I think this blog will be better for it as well.