Jas 5:10 Take, my brethren, the prophets, who have spoken in the name of the Lord, for an example of suffering affliction, and of patience.
We are to look at the prophets, the Apostles, we have to look at the men and women of the Bible as examples. We are foolish if we refuse to look at their lives and understand that they ARE examples for us. An example is something you look at to know what something else should be like. If you're giving an example on how to do something you are to follow that example and do what the example shows you. We are to do as the disciples alive when Jesus walked the earth did. We are to be as they were. Can we be exactly like them? No. We can't be exactly like them because we live in totally different times. However, we must be like them in our passion, our compassion, our love, our attitudes. The Bible gives us so much instruction and if we ignore it then we are fools.
Right here in this verse we are being told we have examples to follow- examples in SUFFERING AFFLICTION and PATIENCE.
We will suffer!
We need patience in that suffering.
When we read of the lives of the Apostles we must do so with the understanding we are to expect our lives to be no different. We aren't going to suffer less. We aren't going to be given special exemptions from suffering and if we think we are then we are in for a rude awakening. We are called to comprehend.
We are to suffer.
Honestly, if our Savior suffered why in the world would we think we should not have a life of suffering?
There are so many ways of suffering too. Maybe we don't have men trying to find reasons to kill us for something we say they don't agree with, in fact most of us don't, but we have different types of suffering.
We have to suffer through big things and many, many little things. When we stop and wonder why we suffer, all we have to do is look at the Apostles, look at our Savior and know that we suffer because we are called to do so. We live in a world that is as far from perfect as it can be and with things so messed up there is going to be that much more suffering.
At the beginning of the book of James we were told this…
Jas 1:2 My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations;
Jas 1:3 Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.
Jas 1:4 But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.
We cannot forget this EVER!
We will suffer but there is joy, the joy of the love found in our Savior.
May we learn from the examples given to us, learn and understand our lives as followers of Christ.
Please Lord bless us, help us to look at the examples You have provided for us and as we look at those examples Lord help us to follow them, know they followed You and we too would be Yours wholly and completely Yours.
All by Your grace, through Your love!
Amen.
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