Perseverance

There's a lot going on in the world that tries to bring us down. People worry about everything from the stock market to the supermarket. While it's true we have some basic needs, our focus should be on the Lord who loves us and has promised us through His Son life everlasting. 

If our greatest concern is our station in life, our material possessions, or other ways the world measures success we are indeed wasting our time. Everything you gain here will be lost. But when you work for the Lord, you are working for something that will last. 

In Psalm 73, the author puts to words some of the things that have crossed his mind. He looks at other's material status and, for a moment, considers his status as lesser. But this is a fleeting thought. Let's look at the next few verses and see how his heart returns to the Lord. 

Psalms 73:13 Surely in vain I have kept my heart pure and have washed my hands in innocence.

Psalms 73:15-16 If I had spoken out like that, I would have betrayed your children. When I tried to understand all this, it troubled me deeply

He quickly sees how this bitterness and envy is poison for the soul. 

Psalms 73:21 When my heart was grieved and my spirit embittered I was senseless and ignorant; I was a brute beast before you.

And just as quickly, he sees the path to peace is in the comfort of the Lord. 

Psalms 73:23-25 Yet I am always with you; you hold me by my right hand. You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will take me into glory. Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you.

Peter puts it another way. He shows the contrast between what's worth working for and what's truly a waste. He reminds us of the promises of the Lord and the nature of this promise is that it is unending, eternal, everlasting. So then, when you work, don't only work for what is seen, but work for what is yet to be revealed knowing your work is not in vain for the Lord is faithful. 

1 Peter 1:3-5 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.