More thoughts on 1 Timothy 1:12-17

I am also grateful that Jesus Christ displays the utmost patience with me. As I meditated on this verse the image that came to my mind was walking with my children. They all walk at different paces. Our youngest likes to stop and pick up everything. He takes his time. He is not in a hurry. He is far from understanding the goal of the walk...to get to where we are going. He is often distracted, often lagging behind, often in trouble, often in danger. My walk with Christ is much like this. I lag behind, I lose sight of the goal, I don't even know what the goal is many times, I am distracted, confused, in trouble, in danger. Yet Jesus paces with me, an idea that is wonderfully developed in the book, Shaping the Spiritual Life of Students by Richard R. Dunn. Jesus slows down to my speed. He comes alongside of me. The he leads me. He gently but relentlessly nudges me in the way I should go. Sometimes, he yanks me out of danger. Sometimes he walks with me through the trouble I'm in. But through all of it, he displays the utmost patience. Unlimited patience.