Patience
is nature's word. A time exists in the ripening process of a peach or an orange
when it has all of its various parts. It is as much a peach or an orange as it
is ever going to be, but it is not yet ripe. If the fruit is picked at that stage,
it will be hard and bitter. Much fruit that is sold today is like that. The tomatoes
are red and round and ripe — or so they seem. The peaches are beautiful in
color, shape, and texture, but they have been forced in the growing process, and
they have been picked too soon. The result is disappointing. The tomatoes are
hard and dry, the oranges are sour, and the peaches are tasteless. They have been
picked before they are ripe. Impatience has spoiled the process.
Patience
is God's word. God is never in a hurry. God's word to us is "Wait!"
It takes time for the earth to complete its journey around the sun. It takes time
for the tide to come in. It takes time for a child to grow into a man or a woman.
And it takes time to bring a person to full maturity in Christ.
We
live in the day of fast-food restaurants, instant news, and instant entertainment.
We try to carry all of this hurry over into spiritual life. A celebrity professes
to be saved. He is lionized, promoted, hurried from place to place to give his
testimony, and applauded on every hand. A young man shows promise as a preacher.
He is invited here, there, and everywhere to preach his half-a-dozen borrowed
sermons. He gets on the conference circuit and ascends the pulpits of the megachurches.
Then, crash! Down he goes. God's word on all of this hurry is "Wait!"
He says, "Not a novice, lest being lifted up with pride he fall into the
condemnation of the devil" (I Tim. 3:6).
Patience!
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Adapted
from Exploring the Epistle of James: An Expository Commentary by John Phillips.
Used by permission of Kregel Publications. The John Phillips Commentary Series
from Kregel is available at your local or online Christian bookseller, or contact
Kregel at (800) 733-2607.
_____________________
John
Phillips is a popular preacher and Bible study leader who now resides in Bowling
Green, KY.