Persevere

You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. Hebrews 10:36 NIV

Have you ever tried to learn a musical instrument? When you were in primary school, did your mum send to piano lessons? If the church had a praise band, did you want a guitar? That way you could join them, after all they sound like they need a new and better player. With a brand new, expensive instrument. Right, now I have a piano, or a guitar, or a flute, or a clarinet…. and the list goes on. Ok so you are ahead of me because you have figured out what’s missing.

Learning. Practicing. Long hours spent when your pals are out in the sunshine, and here you are, stuck in the house trying to bang out “Three Blind Mice” for the twentieth time. It’s not fun anymore. The shine has gone off the desire to play in the Praise Band, or for the choir.

In the same way, if we want to “receive what God has promised” we must stick at practicing our faith. That includes when things are not going our way, and when we have those serious, unanswered questions that we expect from God right NOW! The writer of Hebrews, generally thought to be Paul, makes it very clear that although the gift of salvation is free, we must persevere and see it through to completion. The reward for persevering with your music is great, but look at the reward when we press on in faith for God’s prize. Makes it all worthwhile, doesn’t it?

Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: forgetting what is behind and straining towards what is ahead, I press on towards the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenwards in Christ Jesus. Philippians 3:13-15 NIV

Practicing

When you visit the offices of your lawyer, dentist or doctor, you will see plaques and illuminated certificates proudly displayed, which draw attention to the fact that they are part of a ‘practice’. The name is a bit misleading, because it suggests your professionals operate on a ‘work in progress’ basis and that is not strictly true. They are fully qualified.

As a broadly related example, I was having lunch with some family recently, when a Christian man known to me, but unknown to the others, met us, and then started a conversation with the words: “I don’t know if you are practicing Christians” and then proceeded to tell his own church story. It wasn’t really helpful in that situation, and my family were gracious by not answering, but the incident did make me think about the way we ‘practice’ our faith.

I hope none of us are arrogant enough to think we have it made, or have arrived, as far as our faith life on earth is concerned, so then it is true that we are involved in a ‘practice’ of sorts as we live out our faith in a world which is at odds with our beliefs. We must be careful how we do that, as the Apostle Paul tells us to do it in fear and trembling. We are being watched, and people can be attracted to, or put off, by our words and lifestyle. What a responsibility we have!  

Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose. Philippians 2:12,13 NIV