Now I lay me down to sleep

Now I lay me down to sleep....... If you grew up in somewhat of Christian America you can complete this sentence.  (if you didn't .. it's - Now I pray the Lord my soul to keep).  The other night as I was praying for our youngest I heard myself say the same words I repeat most nights and had the thought bubble "does this mean something, is this working?"  I then read a blog  - http://www.d6curriculum.com/teacher/previous-quarter/fusion-31-ways-to-pray   and know that I am not alone.  Several days later I look at my rapidly growing teenager and in a moment of "I can't take this anymore" spew --- "If you spent 1/20 (yes that was my fraction) of the time you spent texting - reading the bible - you would read the bible in a week," - My 15 year old stood ready with a retort and my 8 year old snorted - (I could not make this up) The 15 year old's reply was, "My bible is on my phone and by the way I have read Exodus, Luke and some of Timothy this week."  I don't know maybe he did, maybe he didn't, that is not my point... My point is, my point is ....... that I am struggling between religious salvation and sanctification -  [Most youth ministries faithfully preach justification by faith in Christ alone.  However, in the space of sanctification, youth ministry often focuses on emotional exhortation and moral performance.] A legalistic tone frequently characterizes the theology of sanctification in youth ministry http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/tgc/2012/04/16/youth-ministrys-tendency-toward-legalism/   What is sanctification?????  According to Wikipedia (which we all know means nothing) Sanctification is the act or process of acquiring sanctity, of being made or becoming holy (hint: this is not something you can do) - Driscoll - (come on we all know him) - has a 5 minute video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rpc2oQo9osU  on sanctification, especially in reference to Philippians 2:12-13. He is talking about the  issue and encouraging us in our ongoing struggle to grow in the Lord. He wants us to understand that there is no perfection in this life, but that we must continually repent and draw nearer to Christ.   The problem with all of this is that it creates somewhat of a Dante's inferno - the closer we draw to the sanctification, the more we realize we are not sanctified.  Which leads me back to ..... Now I lay me down to sleep....   At the end of the day, at the end of it all don't we hope we made a good choice, don't we desire that we did the right thing, don't we PRAY that it all works out ---- Guess what ?!?!?!?! It's not about you.   It's not about the things you do, it's not about the words you say, or text you send , or the words you write, it's not about how you raised your kids, or didn't ---- It's about Jesus - It's about who He was and is  and what He did and is doing - and how HE did it for YOU.  So today, before you make the long list of things to do, before you you flog yourself 40 times for all the ways you did it wrong and before you repeat the words... -deep breath-  STOP and STOP and STOP - do you hear it - it's a whisper - a quite break in the chaos - Its about JESUS - he did it for you. - Because you matter.......