Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. – James 1:2-4
We have not visited with our pragmatic friend James in a
while. What I noted today was “steadfastness”. A lot of translations will render the word as
“patience”. It means “to stay under” as
with a load one is carrying. Staying
under a load of trouble strengthens our faith as lifting weights strengthens
our bodily frames and muscles.
And, just as building our muscles through resistance
training is not an end in itself, the power to be patient and stay put in
adversity is not an end but a means. What
is the end? It is that we may be “perfect
and complete, lacking in nothing”. That
is, we will have all the attributes of the Christian character fully
developed. We will become utterly
Christ-like in our attitude, in our trust, in the certainty we have about the
Father, His goodness and His loving, perfect will.
In the end, the solid patience and faith we learn here in
this life fits us, molds us, and transforms us into creatures of another
world. The more we become like our Lord,
the less this world will seem like home.
2 comments:
Good post Mush.
Seems these days when things go my way I get suspicious. It's like a break before life ups the reps and throws on another 10 lbs.
That is a good way to look at it
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