Good Morning Everyone,
Our theme for this month: “Perseverance”
Our Bible verse for today: “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.” Hebrews 12:1 (NIV)
Our thought for today: “Let’s learn to persevere.”
The word “perseverance” is a close cousin to the word “endurance”. The words are often used interchangeably. The dictionary says that persevere means, “To persist in or remain constant to a purpose, idea, or task in spite of obstacles.” To endure is, “To carry on despite hardships; to suffer patiently without yielding.”
Synonyms for both include, “stamina, backbone, courage, grit, pluck, guts, diligence, resolve, and determination.
In the Bible God tells us that we have to learn to persevere and endure. Why? Because life is hard. Nobody said this was going to be easy – and it isn’t. The Christian life is a great adventure, true, and we have wonderful rewards waiting for us at the end of the journey, but the journey itself includes many peaks and valleys along with lots of trials and struggles. And so, we must persevere, we must endure.
That’s the point the writer to the letter of Hebrews was making in 12:1, but he didn’t stop there. In verse 2 he went on and told us how to persevere, “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”
“Let us fix our eyes on Jesus.” Life wasn’t easy for Jesus either. He had to endure and persevere too. But, as we see in the Gospels, He also had great joy along the way. There was much He enjoyed about life, there were many people that blessed and pleased Him, there was much work that was richly rewarding, and then there was that eternal reward (He sat down at the right hand of God).
He is our example. He is also our cheerleader. He has completed the race and is now in heaven waiting for us to complete ours. He urges us onward – telling us to just keep our eyes focused ahead, focused on Him, and to just keep moving forward.
Do you know people who fit the dictionary definition of those who persevere? These are people with stamina, backbone, grit, and courage; people who carry on despite hardships and who suffer patiently without yielding. People like that are inspiring for the rest of us. Maybe you are one of those people. Or maybe you would like to be.
This month we will explore the important Christian virtue of perseverance. We will learn why it is so important for us to persevere and we will see how we, and those around us, benefit from our perseverance. We will look at many passages of Scripture which teach about perseverance and we will consider inspiring examples of perseverance.
Hopefully, by the end of the month we will all be stronger, more confident, and more determined to persevere through out own trials and struggles – just keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus and always moving forward towards the prize in heaven.
God Bless,
Pastor Jim
Oak Hill Baptist Church 