14/10/2020
Letโs be persistent people โ persistent in the things that please God! ๐
Day 38: โThus I will make the land desolate, because they have persisted in unfaithfulness,โ says the Lord GOD.โ (Ezekiel 15:8)
A very sad statement by the LORD God against Israel โ to make their beautiful land desolate. But it wasnโt without cause. Israel had time after time after time sinned against Him. They had โpersisted in unfaithfulness.โ
The word โpersistedโ means to โcontinue firmly or obstinately in an opinion or a course of action in spite of difficulty, opposition, or failure.โ It meant that there was a firm decision made, and no matter what God said, no matter what warnings He gave, and no matter what circumstances occurred to remind them or prevent them from following unrighteousness, they still pressed on obstinately.
Itโs a sad thing to sin, but itโs even worse when, after being rebuked for the sin, to set oneโs face even harder to continue in that sin. The discipline or the punishment of God clearly becomes greater. But thatโs what Israel did.
It strikes me that as believers in Christ we are also to have this hard-headed persistence โ but not in sin. Our persistence is to be in such things as faith, righteousness, love, and obedience to His call. And it is to be so strong that we continue โfirmly or obstinately in spite of difficulty, opposition, or failure.โ
Persistence can be a good thing if in the power of the Holy Spirit it is applied in the right direction. And just as Godโs judgment on Israelโs sin grew greater because of their persistence in sin, so too can we be assured that the reward and blessing for persistence in what pleases God is greater than it would be for one simple act of obedience.
Persistence doesnโt come all at once. It begins with just one small step. After the first step, there is the next. We learn long-term persistence by learning to be persistent in the little things that face us each day: each decision, each activity, each response to God and to other people. Then, with time, that little persistence grows into long-term persistence โ the persistence that God truly blesses.
Letโs be persistent people โ persistent in the things that please God.
๐โโ๏ธ๐๐โโ๏ธ๐๐งโโ๏ธ๐โโ๏ธ๐คฆโโ๏ธ๐โโ๏ธ๐๐โโ๏ธ๐คฆโโ๏ธ๐โโ๏ธ๐๐โโ๏ธ๐๐งโโ๏ธ๐
๐ฃ๐ฑ๐ช๐ท๐ด๐ผ ๐ผ๐ธ ๐ถ๐พ๐ฌ๐ฑ ๐ฏ๐ธ๐ป ๐ป๐ฎ๐ช๐ญ๐ฒ๐ท๐ฐ ๐ธ๐พ๐ป ๐น๐ธ๐ผ๐ฝ! ๐
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God bless you! ๐ - Ptr Dave Matthews
