Sunday, June 14, 2015

Persist

Persisting is an honest and necessary attribute of the Christian journey.  Much of life isn't found in the glitzy, the glamorous, the flashy, the easy, the push-button mindset or the quick rise to the top.  Life generally doesn't work that way.  Life, instead, seems to be a constant act of persisting through, past, over and under obstacles.  Those who persist seem to get to those places where God's plan and work become more evident.  Peter knew this as he encourages us to persist when it is appropriate and wait when it is necessary.

Jimmy Rane forwarded an email to me which reflected this theme.  Someone was questioning the value of being in church for the past 30 years, yet not remembering sermons, Sunday School lessons and other "teachings" that would constitute the spiritual food of the church experience.  A wise person answered the questioner asking how many meals they had consumed during that time.  They might not remember each meal (maybe only a handful) yet each meal gave them the nourishment for that day's journey through life.  Without that food, they would not have survived to ask that theological question.

I wonder ... do we take in the lessons of the sermons, Sunday School teachings and other spiritual mentoring that feed us what we need to survive each day?  Do we notice the nourishment or do we take it for granted like those meals that have sustained us over time?  What would our lives be like without that spiritual nourishment?  And ... what would our lives be like if we had listened, savored, reflected and applied those lessons?  Randy

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