Skip to main content

Waiting...


Even though we speak like this, dear friends, we are convinced of better things in your case—the things that have to do with salvation.  God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them.  We want each of you to show this same diligence to the very end, so that what you hope for may be fully realized.  We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised (Hebrews 6:9-12)

          The author of Hebrews, having issued his dire warning that not all those who believe they are Christians are seems to have looked up from his writing, stared into the middle distance, collected himself and returned to the letter. His warning, he assured them was general, not personal. He wasn’t saying this about anyone specific. He wasn’t doubting their salvation. He’d seen enough to be convinced that their grafts were strong and nourishing to both branch and root.
          God had seen the same things in these believers that the author had – and more. He is not the sort of person to forget what has happened. However, God’s not forgetting what they had done so far was no excuse for them to rest on their laurels. His conclusion to the paragraph is his real point. To inherit what God has promised, they had to exercise two soulish muscles: faith and patience.
          Uh … oh. Here we go with trusting and waiting again. They’re two sides of a coin. If we are going to wait for God to act on His promises, then we are trusting Him to act on His promises. If we are going to trust God to act on his promises, then we have to wait for God to act on His promises. After last winter, waiting is something I should be used to (if not good at) but  I have to wonder if it ever gets easier. 
         But I suspect that waiting and trusting are the evidences that the author would have looked for in order to be convinced of better things in our case. And that brings me back to Professor Dallas Willard’s statement, and my additions to it. “Be ruthless with hurry” and fear, and dismay.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Think About These Things

                 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. (Philippians 4:8) This passage is a major challenge for me. Like everyone else, I struggle to keep my thoughts from wandering off into the weeds, then wondering what possible benefits those weeds might have… Sigh. But as a writer, I have to delve at least a little into the ignoble, wrong, impure, unlovely, and debased. After all, there’s no story if everything’s just as it should be and everyone’s happy. As Christians, there are times when we need to deal with all the negatives, but that makes it even more important that we practice turning our minds by force of attention to what is noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, and praiseworthy. It’s just too easy to get stuck in a swamp. With my...
1 comment
Read more

Higher Thoughts

  “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the  Lord . “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. (Isaiah 55:8-9)           The person with the Spirit makes judgments about all things, but such a person is not subject to merely human judgments,   for, “Who has known the mind of the Lord      so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ. (I Corinthians 2:15-16) If you read about the ancient gods of the various peoples, you’ll find that they think just like people. In fact, they think just like the sort of people we really wouldn’t want to be around. They think like the most corrupt Hollywood producer or, like hormone overloaded teens with no upbringing.   It’s embarrassing to read. I have a friend who argues that because God is not just like us, He is so vastly dif...
2 comments
Read more

Pure...

            The goal of this command is love, which comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. (I Timothy 1:5)   I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. (Revelation 3:15-16) I’m probably cheating - or mishandling the Bible, but earlier I was thinking about love being pure and purifying. And hatred being pure and purifying. And anger…joy…patience… fear… jealousy… courage…lust… and other strongly felt feelings, attitudes, and beliefs. Today’s verse brings purity and love together, so it’s the verse of the day, but it’s not really the focus. That means my motive for sharing it with you probably isn’t pure. As you read through my list, you   probably thought, “Yeah” about some, and “What’s she on?” about others. But consider how much hatred, a...
Post a Comment
Read more