07/07/2025
Am I working hard enough and practicing my faith with enough diligence and dedication so that I will, at last, be called a mature son of God? Is my faith increasing, and my everyday life reflecting that increase, by exhibiting the true character of Jesus? Everyday life doesn't grow easier for the Christian, but it does grow more certain spiritually, and robust in belief and faith.
“but those who are considered worthy to attain to that age and to the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage, for they cannot die anymore, because they are equal to angels and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection.”
Luke 20:35-36 ESV
My grandfather Holyfield could play almost any instrument; even though he was a farmer, music was very important to him, and he would stand on the back of wagons in the early 1900s to play and sing at harvest time, and other occasions. None of his children played a musical instrument, but it was always my mother's desire that I should learn to play one. As we moved around the country and the world, she enrolled me in piano lessons, but in the seven years I took lessons I never really learned to play. I have told many people that I took one year of piano lessons... seven times over.
The secret to mastering any musical instrument is practice, and either great dedication, a natural ability, or a love that draws you to play it without ceasing. I never achieved that level of dedication, and the love of playing was smacked out of my hands by German piano teachers wielding rulers and sticks when I would lose time with the metronome... this happened long before the love of playing music became engrained and rooted in me. All of this was much to my mother's chagrin. Our faith requires that same dedication, practice, and love too, and as I think back on my good instruction, I wonder how many others have been turned away from the love of God by ruler wielding men and women who felt that they were serving the faith.
Knowing God, Jesus, and obtaining a mediocre amount of faith is something all of us can do. It is like sitting down at a piano and learning to play chopsticks. However, what God desires of us is much more than this... He wants us to play with the ability of a Bach, Beethoven, or one of the modern-day masters; He wants us to not only play, but to hear the music of faith in ourselves to the point in which it flows from us like sheets of previously unheard beauty. One year of faith performed seven years in a row is not what he desires and has planned for us; it is as much a disappointment to Him as my mother's dismay in my early attempts at piano playing... even more so.
Achieving the faith necessary to be identified with Jesus and called a "son" of God is not something that comes easy. Christians are not exempted from suffering and the hardships of life... we just approach them in a much different manner and receive God's help along the way. The practice of failing, forgiveness, and attempting again... and again, eventually perfects us and then it is on to a harder piece to play, and a new lesson in faith.
“"Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.”
Matthew 7:13-14 ESV
As I read my devotional this morning, I was encouraged in my quest for greater faith by something that Pastor Oswald Chambers wrote. In his devotional he spoke of the nobility of serving Jesus, and the hardship of obtaining faith in great measure. Let's read this short excerpt from his writing...
"Jesus is bringing many "sons" into glory, and God will not shield us from the requirements of a son. God's grace turns out men and women with a strong family likeness to Jesus Christ, not milksops. It takes a tremendous amount of discipline to live the noble life of a disciple of Jesus in actual things. It is always necessary to make an effort to be noble." - Oswald Chambers
Today I am questioning the effort I put forth in my attempt to pass through the narrow gate of life. Are the hardships that life presents helping to perfect me, or are they making me distraught and destroying my desire to trust in God all the more? Am I repeating the same lesson over, and over again, until finally throwing in the towel, or am I putting forth the degree of suffering and effort required to make me ready for sonship? The trials of faith grow increasingly more challenging, but the rewards do as well... am I up to the challenge? Will I accept the help and love of God as I walk through my own suffrage and personal passion towards the cross that will perfect me?
“But the one who did not know, and did what deserved a beating, will receive a light beating. Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required, and from him to whom they entrusted much, they will demand the more.”
Luke 12:48 ESV
Prayer:
Father, I thank you for the hard road that leads me to you. I thank you for each lesson I am learning along the way, as it brings me closer to the image of Jesus... and to you. I lean on you Lord and cry out when I am about to fall; "Help Me Father!" In that moment your hand is sure, and as I stumble along you catch me, or lift me up from where I have fallen. You perfect me in my hardships, failures, and shortcomings. As I practice my faith each day my love for you becomes full, and the narrow gate ahead seems a bit wider. Jesus, you are my teacher, my rabbi, and one day we will sit together and make the music of righteousness for the pleasure of our Father. Strengthen me and keep my focus on Heaven’s gate. Never let the lessons overwhelm me, nor the punishing ruler that raps my knuckles dissuade me from achieving the faith I long for with all my heart. Sit beside me Lord and encourage me as I practice your Word and the gospel of Jesus and seek out a more perfect belief and faith in you. Abba, thrill me with the power in the tiny mustard seed of faith, but never let me lose my desire to become a towering tree filled with beautiful and melodious birds, their nests, and all manner of life. The taller I grow, the more I glorify you Lord… so help me to grow in faith each day, and I will give you all the glory and honor for the victory that is my faith… and belief.
Amen! Amen!
Brothers and sisters, remember this always:
“He put another parable before them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field. It is the smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown it is larger than all the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.””
Matthew 13:31-32 ESV
Rich Forbes