Bible Reading: Esther 10; Hebrews 6: 11-20
“That ye be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises” – Hebrews 6:12
Every wife at home knows that for a soup to be well cooked, there is need to have all ingredients in place. You possibly might have eaten food which was cooked without properly balanced ingredients at one time or the other, this can result in stomach upset. In the same vein, every Christian who will go through with God must know that there are spiritual ingredients necessary for a successful journey. These spiritual additives are faith and patience.
These virtues manifest from our diligence in our daily interaction with God. Faith for salvation is different from what we need to daily cultivate in our walk with God. This faith and patience get deeper as we realise that we have a glorious end. God wants you to glance through the life of the people of old and see how they ran their race and adapt it to our lives in order for us to have the fulfilment of promise. Every promise that God would ever make with a man has a time tag and we are expected to develop enough muscles in the area of faith and patience to get what God has reserved for you.
The Scripture adjudged Abraham as the father of faith, yet at a time he jumped gun because his faith did not develop into patience hence he compromised following the suggestion of his wife. Hear what the Scripture says: “And Sarai said unto Abram, behold now, the LORD hath restrained me from bearing: I pray thee, go in unto my maid; it may be that I may obtain children by her. And Abram hearkened to the voice of Sarai” – Gen 16:2 (KJV). How do you juxtapose the above verse with what was credited to Abraham? The writer of Hebrew noticed that upon the error he committed which the Scripture recorded, he could have settled with that but after he was rebuked by God, he patiently endured and eventually entered into the promise. You should constantly gain encouragement in the fact that God can never lie no matter how seemingly delayed the fulfilment of His promise may be, it shall surely come to pass. Has God promised you something and it appears that your faith is gradually going into extinction, please add patience “And besides this, giving all diligence… add to your faith patience…” – 2 Peter 1:5-6. When this is done, your soul shall be lifted up and everything within you shall be able to agree with the word of God that says “that by two immutable things in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us: which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which entereth into that within the veil” – Hebrews 6:18-19. Do not cast away your faith and patience no matter the situation, they have great recompense of reward and are indispensable ingredients for the journey of live.
Prayer Point: Help me Lord never to throw away my faith and patience in the face of obvious storms of life in Jesus name.
Rev. Julius Oluwole