October 4, 2023 —
Patience is a virtue. But can too much patience be a vice? If you are too patient, waiting to see if that pain in your stomach goes away with time, you might make a problem worse. If you are too patient with an incompetent employee, you will lose productivity before the inevitable—his firing—occurs anyway. Too much patience would seem not to be a virtue, but reckless behavior.
Yet that is exactly what God demonstrates to a rebellious human race—reckless patience. Through a story Jesus teaches exactly what God’s patience means for us. It means God is merciful and gracious.
In our first lesson, through Isaiah, God had told almost the same story about God’s patience with His Old Testament people. Ultimately, time ran out for them, however, and the land of Judah was taken into captivity. Let us not try the Lord’s incredible patience like them, but rather bring forth the ripened fruits of genuine faith!
TELL US A STORY:
- A Story of Perplexing Generosity
- A Story of Spiritual Insincerity
- A Story of Reckless Patience
- A Story of Insane Rejection