Yesterday a sister called me complaining about someone close to her. She was angry and upset with the person and deeply hurt by his words. So upset was she that she said she did not want to have anything to him anymore. I counseled her to pray for him and forgive him.
This brings to mind Luke 8:15 on the good soil. A person with good soil condition "hear the word of God, cling to it". To cling to something is to "adhere as if glued firmly, to hold on tightly or tenaciously". One person in the Bible exemplified this strongly...Ruth in making the confession to Naomi "your people will be my people, your God will be my God. Wherever you die, I will die and there I will be buried" clearly demonstrated how someone can cling tenaciously to something. Ruth, in leaving her country and obeying to the hilt all that Naomi asked her to do experienced a great blessing. Truly if she had not done what Naomi had told her to do, she might not have married Boaz and given birth to Jesse in order to be counted in the lineage of the Lord!
To cling to the Lord is to obey His commands. Deut 13:4 "Obey His commands, listen to His voice and cling to Him"
In the New Testament, to cling to the Lord is to abide in Him. The abiding life produces fruit. Echoing Luke 15 is John 15:4-5 "Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me and I in Him, bears much fruit: for without Me you can do nothing".
Truly to bear the fruit of lonsuffering and patience is to cling to Jesus so dearly, so closely, so tightly and tenaciously..... until we become like Him in every aspect!
"Lord grant my dear sister to truly forgive from the bottom of her heart. Give her the grace to pray for the person who had used harsh words on her and treated her badly. Grant her the grace and mercy to bless the person who had despitefully used her. Heal her every hurt. In Jesus Name. Amen."
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