Things in the present look a lot different when they eventually move into the past. It's funny how the death of something makes you see it differently. How the passing of time warps your perspective. How your memories tend to edit themselves until the picture you see in your mind of what 'was' is brighter or more colorful than it actually was? When I go out of town for a week or so, my children reduce in size to the place they were about three or four years ago. So then when I come home they look as though they have grown in the five days I've been gone. Of course they haven't, but this is how slowly we come to accept the changes that come to us. We're all a few years behind and our memories are sprinting to catch up.
Consider change. Conservative thought says that if you just leave a thing alone it will stay the same. Progressive thought accepts the fact that change is inevitable and in order to either maintain the status quo or move forward you must do something either way. It's like this. Suppose a man says, "As long as I leave my house and yard alone it will stay the same." We know this isn't true because paint wears and grass grows so in order for my home to stay the way I found it, I need to work to maintain it and that's not even progression. So then in order for your life to remain as it is now, there's some work involved and you can tire yourself out without even making progress. Since we're bound to work either way, why not progress toward a better end than where you are now? If I'm going to paint the house from time to time, I may change the color or buy better quality paint. If I notice something missing in an area I'll add it on and increase the value of it. Now consider your spiritual state of being. With the things of God, you are moving, as the Scriptures state, from glory to glory. So then God's desire for you is progressive and not to just leave you alone to decay. If we submit to the changes and opportunities He brings we stand a chance to grow but it we refuse to 'follow hard' after Him, our state of spiritual decay is our own doing, for change is a process to be embraced or an enemy to be hindered. Let the weeds grow under your feet if you like, but as for me, no way. Let me interject a thought here. Do you ever feel like your just waiting for endings? By that I mean that you feel as though however pleasant or pleasurable your present state, you're 'getting it over with' so that you can move on to the next thing? This is the danger of progression. That you begin to progress so rapidly that you fail to enjoy the reality of now. We reach for the future, we reach for the past, and no matter what we have we reach for more. Desperate to discover what is just beyond our grasp. I believe progression is futile unless you discover the joy in the journey. Let the satisfaction of the present exist but in a slightly weaker state than the anticipation of what's to come. While at times I've found myself satisfied with the present, the satisfaction has never overwhelmed my appetite of curiosity for the possibility of things to come. Among Jesus' final words to humanity were, "Behold (look) I make all things new." What new things does God have in store for you this year?