Brothers and sisters, be patient until the Lord returns. See how the farmer waits for the land to produce its rich crop, being patient until the fall and spring rains come.
Since we’re surrounded by such a huge cloud of witnesses, let’s throw off everything that weighs us down and any sin that gets in our way. Let’s keep on running the race on the course in front of us.
Epaphras, who’s from your community and who’s a servant of Christ Jesus, sends greetings. He’s always praying hard for you, that you’ll stand firm in the will of God and that you’ll be confident and mature.
During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, with loud cries and tears he prayed to and pleaded with the God who could save him from death, and God listened to him because of his reverence.
“Everyone who’s supposed to be captured will be captured, and everyone who’s supposed to be killed by a sword will be killed by a sword.” So God’s people must be patient and faithful.
Everything written in the past was written to teach us, so that we would have hope both through the endurance the Scriptures teach and through the encouragement they provide.
But the seed that fell on good soil stands for those who have good and honest hearts. Those people hear the message, keep it in their hearts, remain faithful, and produce a good crop.
God has chosen to make known to them the glorious riches of that mystery among the Gentiles. And here’s what it is: Christ is in you, the hope of glory.
But hope that can be seen isn’t really hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? But if we hope for what we don’t have yet, we wait for it patiently.
Whenever we pray to our God and Father, we remember the work that your faith produces, the service that’s the result of your love, and the strength to continue that comes from your hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.