Genuineness!

(1Peter 1:6-7) “In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith--more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire--may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.”

“Do you believe?” Is a question I find myself asking over and over again! I wrestle with this reality as the doubts of hardships press home, they squeeze as if there is no tomorrow. What do I believe? I positively believe that heaven is as real as hell! I absolutely believe that God so loved the world that He gave His “only” begotten Son to die for the sins of the world and on a personal note, for my sin! I am convinced that there is no other being seen or unseen with more authority than God Almighty! The entire universe is subject to His authority! There is much more I could add to this list… however I have lived enough to understand that nothing precious comes easily!

The Lord Jesus is the pearl of great price! He died so that we might live! And yet as we live we to must now learn to die! It is through the hardships of life that we learn this lesson! Worldly comforts work against us; they are of no benefit when sharing in Christ’s sufferings! In fact they weaken our faith! Nevertheless, who welcomes hardships? These hardships have been orchestrated to conform us into His image and without them there will never been any change in our characters. How volatile are we, or rather am I? And yet, as hard as it is at times and when all has been considered, I wouldn't want it any other way. I know better than to want to shirk this call upon my life! Although I only understand in part, I know enough to realise that it is working together for my good.

The trappings of sin cries out, “why put up with it, you needn’t!” It is just another lie!

Life is our test and we will be tried with fire, and those who overcome will appear on the other side refined having tasted in part what it meant for Jesus Christ our Lord to die on that cruel roman cross. There is no avoidance of this reality! Unfortunately most want the best of both worlds, forgiveness of sin with the hope of glorified bodies for eternity as well as the comforts of this world! We will never find peace pursuing both! Joshua had this to say; “choose this day whom you will serve”. It is impossible to serve two masters! As we will be more committed to the one over the other! Disloyalty will be our lot in life!

Words roll off our tongue with great ease, but the reality of those words are proven by our actions! Words do not convince, actions do! It is by our actions that we understand where our commitment lies. It is not a rocket science degree we need to understand where our treasure lies!

I am not making light of the “trial of life”, that is why it is a test, it is trying! But “hope” if it burns brightly enough will be the oil needed to fuel our lamps.  

Did you know there is a day coming when even the apparent Christian will turn on his brother to save his life? If we do not at the very least acknowledge that we need to be trained up in the ways of righteousness how will we ever handle the possibility of death for our faith? If it is the comforts of this world that drives us, we have much to be concerned about.

Testing proves our genuineness in our commitment to God, without it we are like a clanging symbol without any melody; hard on the ears!

Let us say that we realised that we were overweight and we determined to lose 5 pounds. Half the battle would be conquered, we have so willed it! The dieting will not be easy but our objective, the hope of attaining that end will fuel us to stay the course. We may even fail on the first couple of attempts but if the goal is so tantalizing we should eventually arrive.

Back to my original question; “do you believe?” Testing proves where our treasure lies? It helps us realise our own reality. May we all search out God’s grace to endure the trial of life!

Signing off

Tyrone