Original: January 3, 2008
McMinnville, OR
2 We always thank God for all of you, mentioning you in our prayers. 3 We continually remember before our God and Father your work produced by FAITH, your labor prompted by LOVE, and your endurance inspired by HOPE in our Lord Jesus Christ.
1 Thessalonians 1:2- 3
13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. 1 Corinthians 13:13
Several years ago I read an article about climbing the Three Sisters in a day. If my memory serves me right it is an 18 mile grueling but doable day. I would love to attempt this adventure some day. The Three Sisters and Volcanoes that sit close to each other. The northern most Sister is also called Faith, the Middle Sister is Hope and the southernmost is called Charity, which is the King James Bible version word for love.
I have heard that two of the Sisters can be climbed without mountaineering skills but one of them requires tools and actual skills. Nonetheless this sounds like a great adventure!
As I edited the previous entry I noticed something worth mentioning as a stand alone entry. I highlighted three words in all caps for emphasis: FAITH, HOPE, and LOVE.
You may also recognize the similarity between them and 1 Corinthians 13:13 that says, “And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.”
Now study the underlined nouns, “work,” “labor,” and “endurance.”
Now, this is a lot to of think about but when it comes to, “work,” “labor,” and “endurance” tell us within in the context of “faith,” “hope,” and “love”?
Yes!
Just like climbing the Three Sisters in a day takes work, building a life representing “faith, hope and love” means a man will have to, as my son James says, “Do Work!” Being a godly man is not natural to our sinful nature. Being a godly man is not natural to our selfish nature. Being a godly man is not natural to our superficial nature.
It takes a commitment to do work on “faith,” “hope,” and “love” to overcome sinfulness with holiness. A man must do work to defeat selfishness with giving our lives away. Lastly, a man must do work to live below the surface level when it comes to going deeper into fellowship with other guys (John13:35).
Men climb the mountains of “faith,” “hope,” and “love”. Men “work,” “labor,” and “endure”.
Men do work.
Be one.
