It’s a bit of a cliche, but it has happened to me many times and I suspect it has happened to you. A well-meaning Christian will approach me, often a bit too close, and ask, “Have you been saved?” My answer is yes, I’m a baptized, believing Christian. For a long time I thought of that as a yes or no question about my faith in Jesus, and since we are saved by grace through faith, I get to go to heaven. But it’s not that simple. Salvation in Jesus also means transformation, an ongoing process of becoming more and more like him.

On our trip to Israel last June, an optional stop on our itinerary was Jericho. I wanted to see Jericho very badly for several reasons. First, it is the lowest city in the world, by that I mean it is 864 feet below sea level. It is also one of, if not the, oldest cities in the world to be still active. Its biblical history goes all the way back to the exodus, and of course Joshua when the walls came tumbling down.

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I was never in the military but I have had a peek into it through our son Robert, who has just finished his 19th year in the U.S. Army as well as my brother, one sister and each of their spouses who were all in the Navy.

One aspect I’ve always admired about it is its focus on accountability. When a young man or woman enlists, for example in the Army, from day one they have what Rob calls his jacket. Everything they do in training, courses of study, field exercises and actual combat gets recorded and goes into their jacket. Awards and citations for merit, and if there were any trouble, it all goes in there.

That serves as the basis for promotions. That clarity of cause and effect, of being accountable for yourself and your role within your platoon and so forth is often a tremendous blessing to a young man or woman. There is a lot of positive reinforcement for achievement and motivation to avoid negative entries into your jacket.

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Last week, I was studying the readings for this Sunday and I honed in on this sentence from the passage from the second letter of Paul to Timothy:

All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that everyone who belongs to God may be proficient, equipped for every good work. (2 Timothy 3:16-17)

As it happens, and I love such coincidences, I was meeting a colleague and his family for lunch on Thursday. As I approached them, I saw that the dad, who is a priest, was in an intense conversation with his son who happens to be named Timothy. I asked, “what are you talking about?” They looked a little awkward for a moment, then said “Leviticus.” Tim was trying to figure out how that book of law fit in with his faith in Christ.

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