Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed–not only in my presence, now much more in my absence–continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling… (Philippians 2:12)

The destination is assured, but you still have to take the journey.

No, Beloved, Paul isn’t saying that you have to earn your salvation. He’s spent a lot of ink teaching us that our salvation is a gift, purchased with the very life of God’s only Son, and that we only need to receive it.

But there’s a process.

There’s a road between who we are and who we’re called to be.

And it’s work, because the road is long and rough and steep.

And there’s fear, because we can’t yet see the finish line, and sometimes we wonder if we’ll ever get there.

And we tremble, because we have used up all the strength in our spiritual muscles, and they twitch with exhaustion, and the road is still before us.

There are steps God’s going to call you to take today, steps you won’t want to take because you are tired and scared and frustrated and feeling like you’re making no progress toward the goal.

Take the steps, Beloved.

They lead home.

Happy Tuesday.