This is the most detailed view of the distant object Ultima Thule taken by NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft Jan. 1, 2019. (Image: © NASA/Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory/Southwest Research Institute, National Optical Astronomy Observatory)

Ultima Thule may not be your first thought for a devotion on becoming who God created us to be, but it sure was one of the first things I thought of when Pilot and I watched a special on NASA’s New Horizons. A spacecraft zoomed past Ultima Thule January 1, 2019, setting a record for the most distant planetary encounter in history. (Ultima lies about 1 billion miles beyond Pluto.)

Scientist believe this bowling pin or snowman shaped 21-mile-long planetary object was created not as a complete object at its beginning, but one piece at a time as different pebbles and marbles joined together. It’s a process.

In the same way Ultima Thule did not appear complete at the beginning of its existence, we don’t arrive complete the moment we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior.

We’re a process affected by the pebbles and marbles of life that impact us. Our growth  continues until the day Jesus calls us to join him in heaven. It’s a daily process called sanctification through the power of the Holy Spirit living in those called according to God’s purpose.

We can count among the pebbles and marbles that join together to make us who we are sins as well as victories over sin. Neither of those things by themselves define us. They are a composite of who we are.

An area of psychology called Gestalt, would say the whole is greater than the sum of its individual parts.

Only our relationship with Jesus and what he does with those pebbles and marbles defines us.

Some may want to point to the times we’ve failed God and define us by those failures. We may even allow Satan’s lies, deceptions, and deceits to do the same.

Thankfully, that’s not how God sees us.

Through Christ Jesus’ sacrificial death on the cross and resurrection, we are reconciled with God. Our sins have been removed as far as the east is from the west.

Who knows? The next pictures seen of Ultima Thule may show the planetary object has grown, continuing to add more pebbles and marbles in the process.

Hopefully, those who look at us see the pebbles and marbles of our life have day by day grown us closer to becoming the person God created us to become.

So what do you think? Does Ultima Thule look like a bowling pin, or snowman?

I opt for snowman. After all, it was found in the Kuiper Belt which is not known for its tropical heat waves. Pilot, however, thinks it looks like BB8 from Star Wars. 🙂

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This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!

 And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ. And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him. 2 Corinthians 5:17-18 (NLT)

I wish you well.

Sandy

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