"Forbearance" -Too

"I said, I will go up to the palm tree, I will take hold of the boughs thereof: now also thy breasts shall be as clusters of the vine, and the smell of thy nose like apples;" (S.O.S. 7:8)

  "For we are unto God a sweet savour of Christ, in them that are saved, and in them that perish: to the one we are the savour of death unto death; and to the other the savour of life unto life. And who is sufficient for these things?" (2 Corinthians 2:15-16)

  Does it really make any sense? I guess it depends upon which side of life and death you might be on, as to how you will look for the sign and the message of hope. I can recall a message I gave, based upon the portion of the Scriptures that we were currently in, Genesis 27; which was to me an opportunity to, as was my practice, to share on the massage of the cross. I knew it was a stretch, as there was not much to work with, besides birthrights and blessings; but as it turned out, my message was more about the skins of the kid goats that Rebekah put upon Jacob's hands and neck. 

  We are seldom awarded the opportunity to really live out that kind of a trial, at least not in this current age of complex living; but to be fair, this is also the same experience we can live out as we accept Christ into our hearts. Does it really make any sense? How is this going to change things? What will I forfeit if it does not work? Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 1:18, "For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish, foolishness; but unto us which are saved, it is the power of God." On the one hand, you have sight; while on the other, you see absolutely nothing; but that, most assured, does not mean that nothing is there! 

  James speaks to something that is very closely related, as he says concerning those that are not doers of the word, but hearers only: "he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: for he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was." (James 1:23b-24) God's word does save you, but only if you actually put His word to work! In other words, we cannot just hear the word of God and then dwell upon it; it must actually change us and cause up to do something, whatever that something is, it must be put to work. Matthew Henry puts it in a way of life, saying, "And since God, at first, breathed into man's nostrils the breath of life, and breathes the breath of the new life still, the smell of their nostrils is like the smell of apples, or oranges, which is pleasing and reviving." 

  More than anything else, this is about opportunity. Basically it comes down to a sacrifice to God, as in, it will cost you something. Forbearance is something which works in both directions: Christ died for our sins; but we must die to our selves. It makes better sense to you if you have patience; something that I am still working on and feel I will never really master. But, God has enough patience for all of us! We just need to believe that it is so; because that smell of apples, is the smell of fruit; the fruit of the Spirit...

"For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek." (Romans 1:16)