“[The] Lord is…longsuffering to us-ward.” The “us-ward” here is referring to God’s people—His elect, if you please. And who among the Lord’s children knew more about God’s suffering long with them than His number one problem child? How comforting to find two thousand years later that when we stepped into Peter’s sandals, we’d find the same God bearing long with all our shortcomings.
And how thankful we should be to our families, loved ones, and friends, for putting up with us. Even during the times when we can’t even stand ourselves, and are apt to give up, they don’t write us off as a lost cause. Oh, the gratitude we owe them for suffering those long days, weeks, months, and, yes, even years, with us.
Jesus’ admonition to the “us-wards,” is to “Go, and do likewise.” When visiting the Spirit’s fruit stand, take away with you a large bag of long-suffering. The taste is out of this world!
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