Keep Pursuing the Unreachable Star  

On a recent trip to the beach, I sat on our condo’s balcony one evening contemplating the night sky. It’s something I rarely do at home between not venturing out much after dark, the view being obscured by trees on our property, and dealing with pesky mosquitoes. As I focused on the stars, I thought about the vast distance to those twinkling dots of light. As I understand it, I could travel all my life toward one of those stars and never get anywhere close to it. It reminds me of the words of one of my favorite songs that refers to a person’s quest “to reach the unreachable star.” It serves as a reminder to us that there are things in life worth pursuing whether or not you ever actually obtain them.

The same can be said about our spiritual journey. It shouldn’t be viewed as a destination we’ve already reached. Hopefully we have taken some important steps in the right direction. We’ve begun the trip by blasting off heavenward through repenting of our sins, putting our trust in Christ’s sacrifice for forgiveness and cleansing, and living by faith in obedience to His will for us. We’re seeking to fulfill His mission for us as we traverse through the course of our lives. We’re encouraging others to join us on this journey. We’re looking forward with assurance to being with the Lord in heaven one day.

However, the journey is always continuing. We’re ever in pursuit of the unreachable star as we make our way through life. We’re not going to obtain absolute Christlikeness while here on this earth, but we can make greater strides toward it than many people believe. Too many don’t even seek to move in that direction. They settle for some misguided version of Christianity that allows people to continue in sin and not pursue holiness of heart and life. But the Bible teaches that we are called to be holy as God is holy. We can have our hearts cleansed and purified by faith. We can love God with all our hearts and love others as ourselves. Nevertheless, the Bible also suggests that we have not arrived and never will fully arrive at our spiritual destination in this life. We are to be a people who are constantly in pursuit of becoming more what God calls us to be. No matter how many miles we’ve traveled, there are still many miles yet to go. Many of us can testify to the fact that the closer we get to the Lord, the more we realize how far we still have to go to be transformed into His full likeness.

Therefore, we follow the encouragement of scripture to keep reaching for that star. “Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me” (Philippians 3:12).  “Pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace, with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart” (II Timothy 2:22). “Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, gentleness. Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life” (I Timothy 6:11-12).

One day when this life is over, we will be glorified and made like Christ. In the meantime, such holy character and conduct can seem to be an unreachable star. However, we need to be pursuing it. We can get closer to that star than we might think. God can do more in our hearts and lives than we might imagine. So let’s surrender to Him fully, follow His will, and let Him take us higher than we thought possible. And let’s never stop traveling upward.