I heard a story long ago about two strangers traveling on an airplane. One was a younger man and the other was older. As they began to talk, they discovered that each was a Christian. They soon began to share some of the experiences they had with the Lord over the years. Suddenly, the younger man got a very sullen look on his face. He began to open up and talk about his failures as a Christian.

“I try so hard to do what God wants me to do. I go to church and I try to read my Bible and pray. Yet, I always seem to fail. I never can seem to reach God for very long. My life is more like a roller coaster than a consistent walk with God. What am I doing wrong?”

The older fellow thought about the young man’s dilemma for a while, then he slowly spoke. “I think I see your problem. You are a different type of Christian than me. You are a 'do' type of Christian. You depend on what you do to make you close to God. The problem is you can never do enough. I, on the other hand, and a 'done' type of Christian. I depend on what Jesus has done to make me close to God. No matter what kind of day I am having I know what Christ did by dying and rising from the grave is enough to bring God’s kingdom into my life. I don’t have to deserve God. Through Christ He gives Himself to me as a gift.”

I think we are all like the young man in this story from time to time. We must understand that when our efforts to reach God fail, it is not because God does not love us. It is because God is training us to be the done type of Christian that He might give Himself to us without measure.