2 Peter 1:5-8
For this very reason, you must make every effort to support your faith with goodness, and goodness with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with endurance, and endurance with godliness, and godliness with mutual affection, and mutual affection with love. For if these things are yours and are increasing among you, they keep you from being ineffective and unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ
When I was a kid, I loved Star Wars. My sister and I both collected Star Wars cards and figurines and went to the first movie a few times and went to the next ones as soon as they came out. Now, my family watches any and all of the Star Wars movies rather regularly. Relevance, you ask? I think the request in this passage to make every effort to develop our faith in order to be effective Christians is much like Luke’s work at commanding the Force. Like us, he was given a gift—the gift to be able to feel the Force. That gift would be nothing to him, however, without his effort in seeking out, practicing, and becoming proficient in using it in order to be the hero on the side of good in the battle of good versus evil. Yoda and Obi Wan were his teachers, but he had to be a willing student, which took some time on his part. We, too, have many teachers in our lives. We just need to be open to them and commit to practicing what they teach us.
Luke was an unlikely hero, and I think most of us consider ourselves that way as well. Yet there is story after real-life story about how people happen into being heroes to others. So, work on your faith, your self-control, your endurance, your love. Practice them. Be ready. And may the Force be with you!
Margo Ban
Visit http://www.allsaintspalatine.org for a full calendar and join us Wednesday for midweek Lenten worship. Dinner is served at 6:15 and worship (Holden Evening Prayer) is at 7 pm.
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