Therefore be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer
waits for the precious fruit of the earth, waiting patiently for it until it
receives the early and latter rain. You also be
patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand. Do not grumble
against one another, brethren, lest you be condemned. Behold, the Judge is standing at the door. My brethren, take the prophets, who spoke in
the name of the Lord, as an example of suffering and patience. Indeed we
count them blessed who endure. You have heard of the perseverance of Job and
seen the end intended by the Lord—that
the Lord is very compassionate and merciful.
practicing
perfect patience
“Therefore”
indicates that what follows is a result of what we know from what was just
said. Because God renders justice, we
need not take it in our own hands, nor do we have reason to fall to
discouragement. Rather, we are exhorted
now to be patient . Did you notice how many times that word
occurs in these few verses? James has
chosen two different root words in Greek to communicate the kind of patience we
are to have: makrothym- indicates a long-suffering loving attitude (vv.7,8,10) and hypomon- generally denotes a strong determined attitude (v.11)[1].
There
is no promise that things will be easy or fun, but there is an assurance of
benefits for those who endure. What
should you be doing in the meantime? When circumstances (or people) are difficult,
it can be easy to step onto the slippery slope of a bad attitude. How can you practically, and with a pure
heart practice patience? Here is James’
proposal:
1. Set your focus on God’s
accomplishment of His purposes (v.7)
2. Establish your heart in love through
thought, word, deeds (v.8)[2]
3. Embrace thankfulness as an antidote
to grumbling (v.9)
4. Accept that suffering is a part of
life, but it can yield good fruit
(v.10)
5. Get to know God a little better
(v.11)
The question
is not whether or not trials from without, or temptations from within will
come. (They will come!) But it is a
question of whether or not we will endure them with long-suffering love that is
determined to hold strong to the faithfulness of God. If you have a Bible, you have an incredible
resource of inspirational biographies, beautiful poetry, serious warning, and
gracious pleas all related to the life and love that God has for you and for
all people. But no one can force you to
read the most life-changing, patience-inspiring book of all time. No one can force you to endure
faithfully. No one can force you to
taste of the Bread of Life.
Thomas Kempis, (a Medieval
Catholic monk who wrote many books on Christian devotion), said, “All men commend patience, although few are willing to practice it.” Will you be one of the
few?
Read
and Pray: Job 1:21-22, 2:10,
Psalm 62, Matthew 5:1-12
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