Some of you know that I’ve been working to paint our house. That project has been about 4 years in the making. Between all of the work to get things cleaned up and ready to paint and the application of the paint to the different surfaces, a painting project like this sure is a lot of work.
Praise God from Whom all blessings flow for the beautiful weather that He’s provided this Fall! The warm, dry conditions have been ideal for painting. Praise God that our painting project has gone well with no problems or accidents and that it is nearly at an end!
As I’ve been doing the cleanup work, one of the things that I’ve done is to wash down the siding with a special cleaning agent and a pressure washer. One of the things that I’ve noticed in using the pressure washer is how hard it is to get spider webs off of the siding. With the pressure put out by the washer, one would think that it would be easy to blast those webs off of the house and out of corners. Not so! Generally speaking, a brush is needed to get rid of those webs.
The clinging, durable nature of those spider webs is a good picture of how God wants our faith in Him to be “so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.” (Ephesians 4:14) In spite of the temptation of the devil, the world, and our sinful flesh, the good news is that no one can snatch us out of the hand of our loving Good Shepherd, Jesus. (John 10:28) But the temptations that the unholy three put out can certainly make it look pretty good to go our own way and not cling to the Lord.
Only the Holy Spirit can enable us to repent of our sins and believe in Jesus Christ as “the way, and the truth, and the life”—the only way to heaven. Only the Holy Spirit by His sanctifying work through God’s word and sacraments can enable us to cling to Jesus amid the wind and waves of this earthly life. Only the Holy Spirit can give us that durable faith that weathers the storms of this life and remains faithful until death.
As we prepare to remember and celebrate the coming of Jesus in flesh and blood, I pray that you and I will always cling only to Jesus—trusting that only because of Him and His redeeming work, you and I are completely and fully forgiven, that we are at peace with God, and that we have a heavenly home awaiting us.
How comforting that Jesus doesn’t let go of us! Don’t let go of Him! He is your only hope for this life and for eternity. Amen!
God’s continued blessings to you and your families!
In Christ,
Pastor Jon Rathjen
Revelation 2:10, ESV : Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life.
Acts 4:12, ESV: And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.
John 10:27–28, ESV: My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.
Download Full Copy: Labors of Love December 2016 - January 2017
