Subscription Lists

Mothers Day is always a special time in the Kelley household. Both my wife's mother and mine are gone from this world. We devote ourselves to the two mothers who mean the most; my dear wife, Becky, of almost thirty-seven years and my daughter-in-law, Jennifer, of almost eight years. My wife gave me three wonderful children whose lives have ultimately touched a number of other lives in a positive fashion, while my daughter-in-law has given me my twin grandchildren, Patrick and Grace. Due to Jennifer's and Sean's busy schedules we don't get to see the kids quite as often as we like, but we do get them once a week.

The weekend of Mothers Day was a particularly glorious one for my wife and me as we got to see the grandkids twice; once on our regular Saturday evening babysitting detail and then again on Mothers Day evening as all the kids came in. (I would have written "came home" but my children all graduated from different high schools so "home" has a different connotation for each of them) Patrick was in rare form that night. He made a beeline to the magic markers (relax, they're the kind that only color on specially treated paper) and began coloring. Then, he changed his mode of play.

Patrick began to put the markers together end-to-end. The tops of the caps all fit into the bases, so he could connect the tops and bases and make what he called his stick. The hilarity of it is that the markers are about three and one half inches long each and there are about twenty of them. Do the math. That translates into over five feet of markers stuck together. Did I mention that Patrick is only three? And not quite even three feet tall? Now you see the problem. Just as he would get eight to ten of the markers strung together they would start to come apart. He never wavered. For the better part of an hour he continued to fit cap top marker end until his father told him it was time to eat supper.

That's Persistence with a capital "P." Persistence is a fairly common commodity in God's Word as well. Although there are many instances, I would like to share two with you. In the Bible persistence comes across as "diligence." "But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him." Hebrews 11:6 How deep is our diligence in seeking God? The depth of our diligence in seeking God is the measure of our faith. How deep can our faith be if our diligence level is less than that of three year old at play?

"Be diligent to present yourseslf approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth." 2 Timothy 2:15 I don't know how long my three year old grandson would have spent trying to connect those markers had we not eaten. How long must one search the scriptures before one truly knows the mind of God? You're starting to come around to the concept of diligence. It's good old never-give-up, gonna-keep-on-till-I-die persistence. Just as my grandson didn't quit until his father called him to the supper table, so we should never stop giving diligence to our search for the Father and His mindset until He calls us to our banquet table in His presence.

"'Christ in You...'" from Dale Krebbs

Witnessing In Our World