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Have you ever known someone who was unpredictable? You never know what they will say, where they will go, what they will do. You would not dare depend on them for anything of importance. Some people are completely unpredictable in disposition. Today they may be all smiles, but tomorrow they may be spitefully cold.
Isn’t it a joy to be around someone who is predictable? They live according to a pattern. They are level in disposition. Even when they are carrying a burden, they radiate warmth and friendliness. Their deep and abiding convictions allow you to know where they will stand and what they will say. They are people you can depend on.
Our Lord was such a person. He was trained to be predictable and dependable by Joseph and Mary. His parents “went every year to Jerusalem at the feast of the Passover” (Luke 2:41). As often as the sabbath day came, He could be found in the synagogue, worshipping God, “as His custom was” (Luke 22:39).
The body of Christ limps along when it could be running because so many members are unpredictable, undependable, unfaithful. Some families have to decide from week to week whether to assemble for Bible school and worship on the Lord’s day. No one can really tell in advance if they will be there or not. Some members give their money the same way. If they are in a good “mood” they give $10.00, but if they didn’t like the sermon (“too long, or short, or hard, or soft), they may give little or nothing. Thank God for those who purpose to give a generous amount before they reach the assembly and who give it predictably and faithfully. They keep the work going.
And what about those who will not take a stand for truth and righteousness when the pressure comes (or even when there is no pressure)? Such are described by Paul as “carried about with every wind of doctrine” (Eph. 4:14). The only predictable thing about some brethren I’ve known through the years is that they are unpredictable. Let us become purposed, dependable, and predictable people in all of the noble qualities of the gospel. Isn’t this the aim of Paul’s exhortation in 1 Corinthians 15:58: “Wherefore my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord?”
[Note: I wrote this article for and it was published in The Edifier, weekly bulletin of Pearl Street Church of Christ, Denton, TX, December 17, 1981, of which I was editor.]
Attribution: From thescripturecache.com; Dub McClish, owner and administrator.
