INCREASING, OR USELESS

    

I'm sitting by the fire this morning as I write this and reflecting on the words of Peter in 2 Peter Chp1 vs 5 - 9... can't seem to let this go from Sunday, I think it is very important...

For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with goodness, goodness with knowledge, knowledge with self-control, self-control with endurance, endurance with godliness, godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love.  For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they will keep you from being useless or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. The person who lacks these things is blind and shortsighted and has forgotten the cleansing from his past sins.
     
Getting back to the fire...I've hauled a lot of wood that I cut and sawed to stay warm with this morning, and for that effort I will stay warm as long as I'm still cutting wood.  Now the results of that is the warmth I receive from God because of that effort, (a man once said, " The man who cuts his own wood gets warmed twice) I have stayed warm.
     Now let's apply those same principles to what Peter is trying to tell us. Peter says first, "make every effort," so we must ask ourselves first if we are making honest efforts to excel in these things.  He then shows us the woodpile, goodness, knowledge, self-control, endurance, godliness,brotherly affection, love...ok, you've got the picture.  He then asks each of us two questions, "are they yours? and are they increasing."  Increasing is the defining word here in this scripture.
     Lastly he he tells us how to avoid falling in this trap, and then a picture of the trap itself, blindness, uselessness, unfruitfulness, and a shortsighted picture of who you were before Christ found you. You know who I'm talking about don't you?  The person inside of us who thinks we have earned our spiritual degree and are qualified and don't need anything else, we have it all figured out, and have quit chopping wood.
     The ashes of many logs will go out in a small bucket, funny isn't it, all of the resources that God will use to keep us close,  it's hard work chopping, heavy hauling it in, and easy to haul out, he uses all of this creation around us to keep us comfortable physically and most of all, God sent His Son to warm our hearts. He also requires of us to be chopping spiritual wood for us and others, and if we do not all become cold shivering forgetful Christians, and useless in God's Kingdom work.
May God Bless You Greatly
Pastor William

If you want to build a ship, don't drum up people together to collect wood and don't assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea”

Antoine de Saint-Exupery