The purification process

It is an interesting analogy and I have heard a similar one about seeking grace. Like drops of water into a cup, little by little, we receive grace by regular prayer and devotion to God and eventually our cup overflows. In both of these analogies it is implicit that achieving a true state of holiness requires patience and continued devotion. The clarity in the pot doesn't improve and the level of water in the cup doesn't grow if we give up regular prayer and devotion to Our Precious Lord.

 

Are we filled with sin and only a little bit of Jesus, struggling to light up the corner of a dark room? Or are we transformed by his love, brightly lit within, with sin relegated to only a few dark corners that we are actively bringing his light into?

I viewed myself as the "black coffeepot" for many years, and in all that time I never made any progress into the Kingdom. I believed I was rotten at the core, and the best I could hope for was to slowly add my one ice cube a day. But I no longer think this is accurate. Christ gives us a new heart and declares us a new creation in him, right now. The old man is dead. If we choose to continue propping him up, that is a tragedy, but it is not true that we must do so because we have no other choice and no other life to turn to. The undying life of Christ is ours -- why spend one second longer living in lies and death?

It is true that sin still holds some allure for us, having spent so much time under its sway. But all of that is fading away like a morning mist in the sun. Whatever we give our focus to is what will grow stronger within. Will we choose to be overwhelmed by the seeming vastness of the dark? Or will we see it in the light of Christ for what it truly is, a weak, dead thing that holds no more power other than what we choose to give it?

When you bring a light into a dark room, the darkness is dispelled. It simply must flee in the presence of illumination. It cannot be any other way.