Endurance

At night church tonight we had a visiting pastor who spoke on endurance. The sermon didn't say too much, but the Lord used the sermon to remind me of some passages and thoughts on the subject. ... kind of.

The pastor emphasized the idea that we are to endure for the sake of the elect (1 Cor 9). He said that we endure so that we might share the hope that we have in Christ and spread the good news. When I was first saved I remember asking Kent Dresdow why I couldn't just go to heaven - life is too hard, and to be with Christ would be so sweet. Kent told me that God doesn't take us immediately into heaven when we're saved because He still has plans for us here on earth. God uses humans to spread His Word so that the elect might have a knowledge of the Lord. How would people hear the good news if there was no one to share it? How would people see examples of Christ? Obviously the Lord could, in His sovereingty and wisdom, choose to save people soley from putting the Word before them, or just saving them by other means, but that's not the Lord's plan. God uses people to shine His light.

This made me think less about endurance (umm...) but more about witnessing and why the Lord has me here, and about the hope that He's given me. So, I remember talking to Kent and thinking about how key people were in the Lord bringing me to Himself. Several believers on my first missions trip to Kazakhstan (Greg, Adam, Kaitlin, Tiffany, Justin, Tyler, Tanya) and people in Kazakhstan (Maxim, Slava, Andre...) showed me so much love in a different context while at the same time the Lord was revealing Himself to me in His Word. While the Word was giving me the Lord's truth, my conversations and interactions with believers were key in moving me towards to the Lord. Their radical love for the Lord spilled out to people was so incredible to me.

I think about trials and how we always say to endure because the Lord is sovereign, He has a plan. Endure because it will be for your good. Endure because when made weak you will see the Lord's strength. I don't deny that these are good reasons to endure... but I think enduring for the sake of sharing the Lord to the elect is forgotten sometimes. At least in my own life it is.

1 Corinthians 9.22-23 'To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some. I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings.'

I do it all for the sake of the gospel! Is that really what I strive for? Do you remember the first time you received the good news? Can you remember the joy that was sent on fire in your heart? Can you remember giving up your life to gain it? Do you remember the hope that was in the grace of our Lord?

What is it that you love? What is that you desire?

Whatever you live for is obvious I think. You talk about it all the time. Am I so satisfied in the gospel that I want to share it with all men? Do I love the Lord so much that its the first and only thing I want to give to others? I want to love the Lord so much that I want to share Him with all I know. I want to know the Lord more that I am so satisfied in who He is that I can't wait to tell all about Him. I want to worship the Lord so much that I can't ever stop praising Him before the world.

What we love we want our loved ones to share with us. If I love a certain culture, I want to share that culture with those I love. If I love a certain movie, I want my family to know that movie. If I love a certain person, I want my other friends to love that person. May the Lord give me the grace to love Him so much that I want to share Him with the world. What greater thing to share than our Lord?