Rutherford: the whetstone

Monday, June 9, 2014
    Feast of Columba, Abbot of Iona, Missionary, 597
    Commemoration of Ephrem of Syria, Deacon, Hymnographer, Teacher, 373
Meditation:
    Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.
    —James 1:2-3 (NIV)
Quotation:
    Faith hath cause to take courage from our very afflictions; the devil is but a whetstone to sharpen the faith and patience of the saints. I know that he but heweth and polisheth stones all this time for the New Jerusalem.
    ... Samuel Rutherford (1600-1664), Letters of Samuel Rutherford, Edinburgh: William Whyte & Co., 1848, letter, March 9, 1637, p. 218 (see the book)
    See also Jas. 1:2-3,12; Matt. 5:10-12; Luke 6:22-23; Acts 5:41; Rom. 5:3-4; 8:17-18; 2 Cor. 4:17; 12:9; Col. 1:24; Heb. 10:34; 1 Pet. 4:13-14
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, help my faith, to see my trials for what they are. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
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