Wintertide Tractations: Remain
Wintertide Tractations: Remain
Start.
Faithfulness has been on my mind alot lately. My rough definition of the word would be:
tenacity; the resolve to remain in a state or under a certain command; to continue allegiance despite difficulty; to take action to protect or promote the welfare or good name of that to which the allegiance is applied.
At times as I (in my mind) have looked out over the crowd of friends and family members I know and love, or as I have made acquaintance with new people, classmates, etc., my mind has touched on the idea of remaining.
Will Pete remain at church? or will he quit coming and give up on the Lord in his personal life? Will Grey and Ann remain faithful, remain married, or will they succumb to the pressures of society and break their promise to each other "for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer"? Will Lesleigh, a freshman in highschool, remain fervent in her zeal for the Lord when she goes to college?
At times the state of society can make me want to curl into a ball in a dark room and stay there forever. But I don't see that mentality commended in Scripture. Instead, I see bold men and women sharing Christ in spite of the degradation around them (Acts 4:29-31). I see preachers giving forth the Word of Life in the face of persecution (Acts 6:9-15), in the face of great immorality (Ephesians 5:3-4 this post). I see believers exhorted to pray without ceasing (1 Thess. 5:17) and to be prayerful (1 Peter 4:7).
Perhaps the question I should be asking isn't about Pete or anyone but about my own self. How much have I prayed for Pete or Lesleigh today or this week? How much have I been praying for Grey and Ann this month, this year? How much have I been taking their needs, their situations and sorrows to our Heavenly Father? While I wonder whether these will remain, am I myself remaining faithful to pray for these my brothers and sisters in Christ?
Start.
Faithfulness has been on my mind alot lately. My rough definition of the word would be:
tenacity; the resolve to remain in a state or under a certain command; to continue allegiance despite difficulty; to take action to protect or promote the welfare or good name of that to which the allegiance is applied.
At times as I (in my mind) have looked out over the crowd of friends and family members I know and love, or as I have made acquaintance with new people, classmates, etc., my mind has touched on the idea of remaining.
Will Pete remain at church? or will he quit coming and give up on the Lord in his personal life? Will Grey and Ann remain faithful, remain married, or will they succumb to the pressures of society and break their promise to each other "for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer"? Will Lesleigh, a freshman in highschool, remain fervent in her zeal for the Lord when she goes to college?
At times the state of society can make me want to curl into a ball in a dark room and stay there forever. But I don't see that mentality commended in Scripture. Instead, I see bold men and women sharing Christ in spite of the degradation around them (Acts 4:29-31). I see preachers giving forth the Word of Life in the face of persecution (Acts 6:9-15), in the face of great immorality (Ephesians 5:3-4 this post). I see believers exhorted to pray without ceasing (1 Thess. 5:17) and to be prayerful (1 Peter 4:7).
Perhaps the question I should be asking isn't about Pete or anyone but about my own self. How much have I prayed for Pete or Lesleigh today or this week? How much have I been praying for Grey and Ann this month, this year? How much have I been taking their needs, their situations and sorrows to our Heavenly Father? While I wonder whether these will remain, am I myself remaining faithful to pray for these my brothers and sisters in Christ?
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