good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having
heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience.Á-?. There
are those words, that we have trouble with ( I have trouble with
them sometimes); Á-°Having heard the word, KEEP it and bring
forth fruit with PATIENCE.Á-? Patience is the most difficult word in
our language. the Christian life is patience, endurance. He who
endures to the end will be saved. We are just beginning you know.
And if indeed there is some part of our soul that is good ground,
let us make the rest of it good ground, by careful labor, by
backbreaking labor. And, while we are cleaning out those parts of
our souls, let us at the same time pay attention to the places we
have cleared, so the tares do not come in, and choke us.
Apostle tells us, in a marvelous way. He says, Á-°For I through the
law am dead to the law, that I might live unto God. I am crucified
with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me:
and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the
Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.Á-?
we no longer live, but Christ lives in us. May we live by faith,
since this is the only way to accomplish our task. And what is our
task? It is to know Christ isnÁ-?t it? IsnÁ-?t that what it said in the
other gospel today?
our salvation, and He said, Á-°And this is life eternal, that they might
know Thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast
sent.Á-?
love. To know God is to love Him, and give everything to Him.
We see evidence of this kind of love even in our own relationships.
The love of a husband for a wife, or a child for his mother or