ENDURANCE

ENDURANCE

“You need endurance to do the will of God and receive what he has promised.

 (heb: 10:36)

A couple of clichés occurred to me when I read those words. “Truer words were never spoken” and “You can take that to the bank!”

In order for endurance to even be an issue in Christian life, it means one must be constantly working to spread the message of Christ.  We have to have that on our minds most of the time and that takes practice.  The letter to the Hebrews is a primer for evangelization. (Note: I don’t like that word. It’s too cold for an endeavor which requires so much love and patience.)

It is pretty obvious that the whole focus of the early Christians was fearlessly sharing the Good News. Listen to how they speak to one another. 

“I urge you to stir into flame the gifts of God.”   

“So strengthen your drooping hands and weak knees. Make straight paths for your feet.”

“Consider how Jesus endured such opposition from sinners, in order that you may not grow weary and lose heart.”

There are a lot more of these confidence-boosting sentences in Scripture.  The early Christians were inspired by the freedom they experienced once they stopped being afraid of God.  They feared God, because despite God’s protestations of love, he was continuously depicted as vengeful and quick to anger.   But, the People of The Way, as they were called, were serious about letting others know that Jesus Christ lived and died for them. His entire life on earth was motivated by an intense desire to be the link to the Father the world so desperately needed. 

Nothing has changed.  The world needs to know God as loving, merciful, approachable and above all, forgiving.  Jesus said, “If you have seen me, you have seen the Father.”  Begin there.  If people know Jesus at all, they need to know that fact. The Father is compassionate, loving, forgiving and thoroughly invested in his creation just as Jesus is.  

Do we, of the 21^stCentury need to ask ourselves if we have that sense of total joy in knowing the true nature of God?  If we don’t, we need to work on it and if we do, we need to share it.  Either way endurance will be required. 

Blessings on us all as we strive to do His will.

Carol Lemelin OPA