Perhaps by avoiding the call to repentance, we are like the compassionate doctor who fails to tell his patient the truth about his condition out of fear of hurting his feelings.
Ending Well
From this, I conclude that the secret that will allow us to end well is to be constantly reminded of our own tendency to go off track. We need a realization of our complete dependence upon God for anything good to come from our labors.
On the sin of presumption
In the midst of recommendations by health organizations and governmental bodies against assembling groups of people, some churches have continued to gather for Sunday worship. This seemed wrong to me and irritated me but until this morning, I couldn’t articulate a reason for my irritation.
So that I will not experience pain . . .
A while back, there was a bo that was very popular in Christian circles that centered on this verse. I remember reading it but I didn’t find it very helpful or encouraging. The promise of that bo (as I recall) was that if I prayed that prayer with the proper sincerity, like Jabez, I would not experience pain.