A Yielding Nature

"If thine enemy be hungry, give him bread to eat; and if he be thirsty, give him water to drink: For thou shalt heap coals of fire upon his head, and the Lord shall reward thee" (Prov. 25:21,22). "Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth: But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloak also" (Mat. 5:38-40). "But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust" (Mat. 5:44,45). "I speak to your shame. Is it so, that there is not a wise man among you? no, not one that shall be able to judge between his brethren? But brother goeth to law with brother, and that before the unbelievers. Now therefore there is utterly a fault among you, because ye go to law one with another. Why do ye not rather take wrong? why do ye not rather suffer yourselves to be defrauded? Nay, ye do wrong, and defraud, and that your brethren" (I Cor. 6:5-8). "Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord… Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good" (Rom. 12:19-21). All of these Bible sayings are threaded through one common element, and that element is true faith in God. Those who are able to naturally practice these modes of living, say by their actions that they are trusting God to truly "work together for good" all things that take place in their lives (Rom. 8:28).

The scriptures teach us in regard to the patriarchs of the faith, “These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country” (Heb. 11:13,14). One such instance where this faith was exemplified was when Abraham and Lot’s servants clashed, and Abraham advised Lot that the two of them should split up and go in two different directions with their cattle and possessions. Abraham, having the authority, could have dictated the terms to Lot, but instead he gave Lot first choice of which land he would take to himself. Lot chose Sodom because it was well watered, and Abraham remained in the land of Canaan (Gen. 13:5-10). Afterward God appeared to Abraham and promised him that he and his seed would possess the entire land of Canaan for an everlasting possession (Gen. 13:5-17). It is by demonstrating that we are of a yielding nature that we show that we “seek a country,” and that the scripture is speaking of us when it says; “they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city” (Heb. 11:16). It is also certain that if we cannot be of a yielding nature with men whom we CAN see, we will not be of a yielding nature with God whom we CANNOT see (I Jn. 4:20). We can be assured as well that if we do not show forth a yielding nature in our lives, we do NOT have true faith in God; nor are we “setting our hopes on things eternal,” as the old faithful Gospel hymn admonishes us to do. Amen.