Life presents many troubles that at times make it difficult to stand strong in the Christian walk. Standing alone makes it seem nigh impossible. Perhaps this is why God created friendships. The most precious times amongst spiritually-minded friends often take place when one of them finds himself in need. Far too many Christians stumble and fall spiritually because they have no one offering support and encouragement. True Christian friends are a help when those troublesome times arise. A true Christian friend encourages and strengthens his friend before he hits his lowest point and contemplates quitting. The heartbeat of Ecclesiastes 4:7-10 reveals that it is hard to serve the Lord alone. Yet serving Him with Christian friends provides extra strength in times of weakness and despair. A friend may be there to lift his brother up one day only to find the act of kindness reciprocated on another occasion.
Luke chapter seven records the story of Christ eating at the house of a Pharisee named Simon. A woman, who knew Jesus was visiting Simon, entered into the house with a box of ointment and a determination to outwardly shower the Lord with her love for Him. She anointed His feet and wiped them with the hairs of her head, all the while weeping. This event greatly troubled Simon because of the woman's unsavoury past. Christ knew Simon's inward thoughts questioning how the Lord could allow this sinner to make such a fuss over Him. Did He not know her sordid reputation? Christ used this opportunity to teach some important truths concerning forgiveness by putting Simon to a test. Christ questioned this Pharisee about who would love most: a person forgiven of little or one forgiven of much. The answer was obvious to Simon—a person forgiven of much possessed a natural capacity to love more than one who had been forgiven for less. In other words, those who have been forgiven the most by the Lord often display a greater, more fervent love toward the Lord than those who have been forgiven to a lesser degree.
Christians are supposed to strive to be Christlike. For this reason, today's lesson will involve searching the scriptures to learn about the nature of God. One constant theme concerning the Lord’s nature is that He endures. The Bible not only proclaims that the LORD will personally endure for ever (Psalm 9:7; Psalm 102:12), but the scripture declares forty-two times that His mercy “endureth for ever.” God’s enduring mercy means that man does not always receive the bad that he deserves. The Bible also proclaims that many other things directly associated with God will endure. These include God’s “goodness” (Psalm 52:1), “name” (Psalm 135:13), “truth” (Psalm 100:5), “glory” (Psalm 104:31), “righteousness” (Psalm 111:3), “dominion” (Psalm 145:13), and “word” (1 Peter 1:25). In other words, the God of the Bible and all things directly associated with Him will endure for ever.
Scripturally speaking, a vow involves a solemn promise made to another individual or to God Himself. In our passage, vow is used both as a verb and a noun. Vowing a vow is analogous to someone promising a promise. Men are to keep their word by keeping their promises; or, in other words, men are to be faithfully dependable. When a man makes a promise to God or to another person, he should do everything within his power to keep that promise. The Bible warns against a man allowing his mouth to cause his flesh to sin by making promises with no intention of keeping them. Those who vow a vow to the Lord and fail to perform it are called “fools” and the Lord “hath no pleasure in fools.” Before making any promise, one should first count the cost to determine whether or not making the vow will simply cause him to sin.
True contentment only flourishes within the lives of committed followers of God's word. Three important truths aid in fully comprehending scriptural contentment: (1) Man was born into this world with nothing (1 Timothy 6:7), (2) Upon death, man leaves this earth with nothing (1 Timothy 6:7), and (3) God declares that man should be content when provided with food and raiment (clothing) (1 Timothy 6:8). Understanding and accepting these three truths helps cultivate a true sense of godliness and contentment. This is why the Bible defines godliness combined with contentment as “great gain” and warns those who will be rich that they fall victim to temptations, snares, and many foolish and hurtful lusts (1 Timothy 6:9). Interestingly, the Bible warns the covetous man that all of his earthly possessions during a lifetime of accumulation will be left behind for someone else to enjoy (Ecclesiastes 2:17-21). Contrariwise, the contented man with few possessions has his possessions enlarged into “great gain.”
God is a compassionate being. The earthly ministry of Christ repeatedly demonstrated this truth. In Luke chapter 7, the Lord entered into a city only to find that a widow (a woman whose husband died) had just lost her only son to death also.It was a very sad time for this dear lady. The loss of her husband had been hard to bear, but her son was a daily reminder of the husband whose love she treasured so greatly. Yet, now the son too was gone. Perhaps the young man worked to help support his mother, but now she was alone without her husband and without their son. Fortunately for this woman, God is rich in mercy (Ephesians 2:4). He intervened on behalf of the woman bringing her son back to life. Her tears of mourning (Luke 7:13) turned into tears of joy.
