Steadfast and Immovable: The Secret to Destiny
“Yet if you persist in doing evil, both you and your king will perish” 1 Samuel 12: 25.
1 Samuel 12 records Samuel’s farewell address as Israel’s judge. He delivered it as the nation formally transitioned into a monarchy under King Saul.
He sets forth the core covenant rule: if both the people and their king continue to serve the Lord, it will go well with them. To read the passage for context, click here.
Persistence Is Key: Think Steadfast
It’s really not what we do once or twice, or for a month, or even a year, whether good or evil, that determines our destiny. It’s what we persist in doing.
As the old adage goes, thoughts produce behavior, behavior habits, habits character and character destiny.
Romans 2: 6,7 tells us: “He will render to each one according to his works: to those who by patience [persistence] in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life”.
As we’ve said, our destiny is determined by our character. Character is developed over time, as a result of choices made over and over on a regular basis. James 1: 2-4 tells us in order to become mature or complete, we must be steadfast in righteousness.
What Do We Give Ourselves to?
The same holds true for bad behavior. When we give in to temptation when our faith is tested, we will develop less endurance or grow weaker. And this will eventually make us corrupt.
It’s our character or essence or spirit that determines our destiny. And character, essence or spirit is the product of what we persist in or continue to do day in and day out.
To persevere in righteousness is hard enough even when we’re not experiencing trials that test our faith.
But if we hope to become mature and complete and fulfill our destiny, we must continue in righteousness. Especially when it’s hard or we don’t feel like it, or we don’t see results. Or worse, it seems to be a threat to our well-being.
“And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up” Galatians 6: 9. And doing what’s right often does seem to threaten our well-being. But we must persist in it just the same if we hope to fulfill our destiny.
I mentioned the reason we must endure or not give up is because it’s only what we persist in that becomes a habit. And only habits determine character.
Everything We Do Is A Seed
But said another way, everything we do, whether good or evil, is a seed. And seeds don’t mature and produce a harvest unless we persevere in cultivating them. Unless we continue to weed and water.
If we grow weary and stop weeding and watering the seed will die and we will not have a harvest despite the fact that we planted it in good soil.
To read another post related to Steadfast and Immovable: The Secret to Destiny, see The Path of Life: Fraught at First, but Easier Later.