When God Uses Repetitions in One's Christian Life

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While Christians are told not to pray in vain repetition yet the Bible also talks about the use of repetitions. Do you know that there are times repetitions are necessary? We see the repetition of the water cycle, the beating of the heart, the body's cleansing process and nature is full of repetitions. While repetitions can be burdensome but the are sometimes necessary in the Christian life. It sounds burdensome but sometimes we just need repetition.

The whole purpose of repetition is all about mastery. We can think about the need for repetition so you can learn something better. Do you ever know that before you can master a musical piece or memorize a poem that you must repeat all over again? Many times, when one is wrong you must always start all over from the beginning. I remembered how the instructor once said, "We don't want to do this but it's needed." How true it is that as much as repetition is painful but it must be done at times in order for mastery to be achieved. It's a painful process but it works.

The example of a similar repetition can be seen in Jeremiah 18:4 saying, "And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it." We can see the process of the potter. I remembered a field trip to a local pottery before and one of the things that was done was to ensure that no flaw that would prevent a good pot from being formed was present in said mixture. The potter in Jeremiah saw that there was some kind of impurity. It must have been a pebble or anything. What did the potter do? He simply had to start all over again because the clay formed into a pot had to be free of impurities before it could be baked into a pot. Then the wheel must be repeatedly turned all over again in order for the clay to form into what would be the pot.

I was once told, "You read the Bible already once so why are you reading it all over again?" Before I was saved, I once asked that similar question. So why do you read the Bible repeatedly after you've read it cover to cover or why do you continue to go to Sunday school and Sunday worship services? The answer lies with this fact that human memory is very unreliable and that the Bible is spiritually discerned. Another is that a single read through the Bible isn't enough. I remembered how I even forgot about Jephthah's rash vow or that Joab was David's nephew until I started reading all over again. There's still so much revelation that you may have been missed or that memorizing verses isn't enough. True, memorizing verses helps one in the Christian life but one can never do without a copy of the Bible.

Iron sharpens iron and knives frequently need sharpening when they dull. If you start to notice the more you use the knife the duller it becomes. That's why there's always the need for repeated sharpening. If you want to sharpen the knife then shouldn't it that you rub it against a sharpening board repeatedly? The fellowship of the Church within the local churches happens this way. You can imagine how the Church present in the form of local churches have believers meeting together. This repeated meeting keeps people strong. Should a person decide to stray away from the cycle of fellowship then said person can be expected to backslide terribly.

Lastly, there's the need for repeated exposure to trials and tribulations. Do you know that gold has to be repeatedly tested with fire before all the dross is removed? Do you know that iron has to be repeatedly tested with fire before you can get fine steel? To expect a Christian life without difficulty is a foolishness to avoid for one good reason - the servant is not greater than one's master. Jesus was hated and the world will hate His followers too. Yet, God uses repeated exposure to tribulation to continuously purify the Christian. As said, God protects His Elect and when you're outside His fellowship then expect punishment to get back on track. Also, it's because Christians aren't sinless and every little sin is in God's record. Exposure to frequent tribulation will help the Christian be more aware of whatever little sin they have even if they no longer live like the rest of the world by God's grace.

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