Greetings, dear ones.
I had an unusual experience this morning while doing my little old man jog. I encountered a bald eagle. He was perched high in a tree about 75 yards away. Spotting such critters is not very common around here. I stopped and talked to him some. But he wasn’t very social—didn’t say a word.
We attended the funeral of an old friend this afternoon—Joe Bitz. Without a doubt, it’s a lot more fun to attend the memorial of a faithful (persistent) believer than one who isn’t/wasn’t. It was truly a celebration—as it should be.
This production is a little slow in materializing today—mainly because I goofed up this morning by reading the wrong passage.
Not a lot left of this day. May the Lord bless the remainder.
Love, Ray
Most likely we have all had some exposure to “yo-yos”—not just the toy-on-a-string kind—but the people kind, who demonstrate an unstable life pattern—up one day, and down the next—the result of living by what they feel rather what they know or believe to be true. Over the years I’ve encountered, for example, countless cases of apparent conversions that don’t stick—people responding with excitement and emotion to a clear gospel presentation, only to have the fire go out over time. For some, it may take a relatively long time—for others it’s a short time—sometimes very short.
So what’s the problem? Why is “yo-yo-ism” so commonplace? I judge that Jesus is offering here an indirect but very clear explanation. That condition has to be related to the absence of a key ingredient that Jesus identifies here as PERSISTENCE. The truth that I glean from this input is that it doesn’t matter as much how well one begins their Christian walk, but how well that person perseveres and ends.
This is not the only time the word PERSISTENCE appears in this reading. Jesus goes on to state, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter into the realm of heaven’s kingdom. It is only those who persist in doing the will of my heavenly Father” (7:21, The Passion Translation).
Additionally, the idea of PERSISTENCE is implied when Jesus characterizes two men who are both involved in building projects. One is pronounced as WISE, the other as FOOLISH. “Everyone who hears my teaching and applies it to his life (with persistence) can be compared to a wise man who built his house on an unshakable foundation. When the rains fell and the flood came, with fierce winds beating upon his house, it stood firm because of its strong foundation. But everyone who hears my teaching and does not apply it to his life (without persistence) can be compared to a foolish man who built his house on sand. When it rained and rained and the flood came, with wind and waves beating upon his house, it collapsed and was swept away” (7:24-27, The Passion Translation—parentheses are mine).