• 
• 
• 
• 

Today's Devotional

Be patient, then, brothers and sisters, until the Lord’s coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop, patiently waiting for the autumn and spring rains—James 5:7 (NIV).

Just as sure as [Christ] has come once, he shall come a second time. He came the first time humble and lowly; but he shall come the second with power and great glory. He shall erect his great white throne, he shall summon the living and the dead before him, and fix the eternal destiny of every human being. What a solemn event! What an exalted assembly! What important results!

The duty of patience regarding it—“Be patient.” Patience includes bearing, suffering, waiting. We must bear all provocations patiently. Christ bore the opposition of sinners, and the insults and reproaches of his crucifiers; and shall we not bear all for his sake? “He who is slow to anger is better than the mighty, And he who rules his spirit, than he who captures a city” [Proverbs 16:32 NASB]. We must suffer afflictions courageously. Whether they arise from poverty, or disease, or the misconduct of others, patience in us should have its perfect work. Remember the patience of Job, whose faith triumphed over all his afflictions. “Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him” [Job 13:15 KJV]. We must patiently wait under delay. Sometimes we wonder at the success and triumph of the wicked, but God delays their punishment that they may have space to repent. Sometimes we wonder why the church of Christ is not more enlarged; but by this God tries the faith and patience of the saints.

The illustrative example— “See how the farmer waits.” He waits for days, and weeks, and months, till the seed he planted in the ground grows and comes to maturity. He waits for refreshing rains, the former and the latter, to revive the earth, and strengthen the blade growing from it. He waits for sunshine and dry weather to mature his crops, then reaps thems and gathers them into places of safety. And shall the farmer be thus patient regarding his crops; and shall not the Christian be patient until Christ comes and destroys his enemies, until the church is increased in the world, and until his own happiness is completed in that land where there are no enemies and no death?

About the author and the source

When Hugh Baird wrote Beaten Oil, it was with the intent of explaining more fully the Scripture he selected for the day than did most other devotional books.