Our Long-suffering Father!

(Romans 8:29) “For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son.”

What then is the purpose behind the mistakes we make and the lessons we should learn? The answer is obvious; to become more like our great Saviour the Lord Jesus. What now amazes me is it took an event in my life, a bad choice, something I should have learnt long ago and yet I found I made the same mistake. It is only a lesson learnt if we refrain from making the same mistakes. These lessons of life help highlight our relationship with the Lord and where we are along our journey on the Celestial Road. Our actions do not lie in that sense. My life has been a life full of regret; I have so much still to learn and I seem to be a habitual offender in some areas of my life. But to deny this about myself would be foolish but to give it pre-eminence so that my thoughts are constantly captivates by my weakness and I end up finding life a constant grind and a heavy burden would be just as wrong; “Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.” (1Peter 5:8) 

It is one thing to stand on the outside looking in at someone who has fallen and to pass judgment; their blunder is supposed to teach us fear so that we can learn from the mistakes of others! I wonder does it, or does it just end up making us judges?

If I am honest, as we all should be with ourselves and others, I wonder have I ever got past suffering for my own wrong-doing as opposed to suffering for doing the right thing at the cost of being falsely accused. This we know is commendable before God; “For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God's will, than for doing evil.” (1Peter 3:17)   

Our lives seemed to be so filled with suffering for wrong-doing, no wonder we cannot get passed so many infant stages of our lives! Let me be fair and not speak for others, it is my own mirror I now gaze at. Yes there are certain areas that growth is obviously evident but there are also many that are stagnant; it is time to put off childish things. It would be good to also remember that we have fallen natures and that is why the Apostle Peter teaches us to fear the flesh; “Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul.” (1Peter 2:10-11): - if we are not wise with our choices we will end up falling in areas of our lives where we will regret ever making such silly choices. The very first fruit of repentance is “carefulness”, we must be careful not to put ourselves in a position where we may end up falling. When we were first saved, did we not pay careful attention to this warning, I know I did! And yet somewhere along the way I let things slip, hence so many regrettable bad choices.

I do not wish to make light of these areas in our lives but we can take consolation from the children of Israel in the Wilderness, it took them 40 years to get to the Promised Land where is could of taken them just a couple of weeks. Wherever we now find ourselves, remember that there is still work to do in our own lives, life is teaching us who we are and where we need to find repentance so that we may be conformed into the image of our great Saviour, no matter how far we seem to be from His perfect example, today is another day to repent and to look to him to find grace so that we may overcome in those areas of our life that seems to be a habitual drain.

If we were able, which is impossible as men to overcome, within ourselves we would never have needed the Lord Jesus to come live as a man and to conquer sin once and for all. We would have looked to do it by ourselves, an impossible task!

Let us therefore remember that the trial of life and the areas that we still fall in are there to teach us who we actually are, so that we can acknowledge our fault before God and one another, so that we may lock hand with each other, and pray for one another.

This is why we have been called; “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28) – But it is the next verse that teaches us why this is needful; For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brother.” (Romans 8:29)

Forgive me, forgive us Father God for so many frivolous bad choices in our daily walks, we will not overlook them but we seek repentance, so that we will eventually learn to walk circumspectly before a Holy God. Thank you Lord Jesus for your example and I am sorry that I am such a slow learner. Thank you for your never tiring patience!

Signing off

Tyrone