Then Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, "If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free."  They answered him, "We are descendants of Abraham and have never been slaves to anyone.  What do you mean by saying, 'You will be made free'?"  Jesus answered them, "Very truly, I tell you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin.  The slave does not have a permanent place in the household; the son has a place there forever.  So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.  I know that you are descendants of Abraham; yet you look for an opportunity to kill me, because there is no place in you for my word.

"You are truly my disciples if you continue in my word."  Perseverance is the bond and assurance of true discipleship.  There seems to be two states of discipleship: a trial period for those who begin to believe in Christ and a permanent state for those who persevere in Christ's word throughout life.  St. Peter writes "make every effort to support your faith and knowledge with endurance...be solicitous to make your call and election permanent." (2 Peter 1.5-11)  He lists endurance as a quality as important as faith, knowledge and godliness for being fruitful.

Jesus continues: "The slave (to sin) does not have a permanent place in the household; the son has a place there forever."  Even so, the slave does have a place, just not a permanent one, nor a place desired by Jesus.  He wants us totally free from the slavery to sin so we can enjoy permanent sonship in him.  How do we obtain this?  Through perseverance to his gospel through which we will know the truth which will set us free.  But we cannot continue in the word if there is no place in us for the word (v 37).  Why would there be no place in us for the word?  Because we have filled ourselves up with "the cares and riches and pleasures of life" and there is no room left.  We are not limitless creatures!

Our task therefore is simple to know but difficult to do.  After all, "the way is easy which leads to damnation, the way hard which leads to life."  The way is to make room in ourselves for God's word.  This necessitates repentance and turning from the world.  Once God's word has found a home in us (we begin obeying God's laws, especially that of charity) we must settle in for the long haul and commit ourselves to perseverance in it every day of our lives.  This is the challenge, for in even the most dedicated Christian fatigue and trial will set in.  The world's appeal is constantly before us and is even the theater in which we must operate and evangelize.  Only with constant, daily vigilance can we remember who we are and what our mission is.  With God's grace we shall keep our lamps lit or at least our supply of oil close at hand.