Perseverance and Good Soil
We begin with a story of my dear friends' cat, Seeky. (Their other cat, which they got before Seeky, is named Heidi.) During a slumber party at their house Friday night, she spotted one of the girls' dolls lying on the couch.
Seeky was enthralled. Not even the shrieking giggles of six young women watching, nor the flashes of their many cameras, destroyed her concentration. That doll was a threat of some kind, and she wouldn't rest until her reconnaissance upon it was complete.
Closer she crept, patiently and intensely. Every move she made was a credit to feline sneakiness capabilities. The doll continued to lie there with the impudence common to inanimate objects.
She finally sprang forward and swatted the doll, retreating and advancing several times. The doll turned the other cheek. Still Seeky continued to batter her face and hair.
Finally, the doll's gentle answer turned away Seeky's wrath and she promptly forgot the doll existed. Her story brought to my mind a passage from James:
Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him. When tempted, no one should say, 'God is tempting me.' For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death. Don't be deceived, my dear brothers. Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created. My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, for man's anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires. Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you. (1:12-21)
Perseverance, James's focus throughout this chapter, creates a breeding ground for temptation. When we are strained by our desire for perseverance's goal, the options for a shortcut or some type of temporary comfort can be enticing indeed. I find it interesting, though, that it is after desire has "conceived" that sin occurs. Desire itself is what motivates perseverence; it is not the desire itself that is evil.
Good and perfect gifts come from above, not as a result of enticement but in the timing dictated by the ultimate Wisdom (see the earlier part of the chapter). And it does no good to get frustrated and bothered about it, because apparently anger delays the fulfillment of the goal: a "righteous life that God desires" and the fruit of the word he plants in us. We must cultivate and weed our good soil (Luke 8) by conscious elimination of "prevalent evils," knowing that it is only by the grace of the Father of lights that the soil will grow anything.
We have much to do while we wait. But hope will not disappoint us.
posted by Lynn @ 5:47 AM
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