“I am not what I ought to be. I am not what I want to be. I am not what I hope to be. But still, I am not what I used to be. And by the grace of God, I am what I am.”
… John Newton (1725-1807)

It could be disappointing to remind myself that I am not who I out to be. Not who I want to be. Not who I hope to be. It might nice to know that I am not who I used to be. But challenge for always is do I rejoice in who I am right now? I know that my walk with God is a journey, and that I am hopefully moving closer to where He wants me to be, yet where I am right now is most critical.

Last night I was watching “Man vs. Wild”, which is a survival show on Discovery where the host places himself in dangerous location in order to show the viewer tips on how to survive. One thing that I realized this morning as I read Newton’s words is that the host last night would constantly go out of his way to somehow get a reference to where he was. He might climb a tree to look around, survey the land. He might look at the shadows from the tree in comparison to the sun to gauge direction. It is critical to his survival to know where he is.

Knowing where I am will only help me know Him and the grace with which He surrounds me.

“I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better.”
— Ephesians 1:17 (NIV)