Persevere and Endure

Think about all we work so hard for, the goals we set before us.  Then think about how diligent we must remain focused on them to actually enjoy them.  For Mr. Bill [right now], it’s college basketball. “March Madness,” they call it.  Admittedly, I'm not part of the madness, nonetheless, my role is equally important: to make sure there’s plenty of Coke and cashews!

 

These are some wise words: your reputation is better kept than recovered.  By God’s Grace, years of faithfully walking uprightly, applying Godly principles can be destroyed in a moment.  The ungodly, however, don't walk this tight rope.  This was an oft repeated thought of the psalmist, how evil men prosper. “The wicked through the pride of his countenance, will not seek after God: God is not in all his thoughts. … he sitteth in the lurking places of the villages, in the secret places doth he murder the innocent: his eyes are privily set against the poor.” (Psalm 10:2, 8).  Don’t you dearly love how God’s Word calls evil what it is -- evil, wicked what it is -- wicked.  Evil doers seem to find some sort of misguided consolation in: “… God hath forgotten: He hideth His face; He will never see it.”  When there seems to be no respite for the Saints of God (those who fear the LORD and walk in His precepts), read on: “For the righteous LORD loveth righteousness; His countenance doth behold the upright.” (Psalm 11:7).  God neither forgets the wickedness of men nor does He forget His righteous ones.  There's the call – the command – to persevere in Godly truth!  What an honorable goal to endure, to persist in doing right.  There’s more than personal reputation at stake; there’s the present and eternal reward to those who endure to the end. “Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love Him.” (James 1:12).  We  may not know what that crown looks like, but we sure can know what it feels like!  Besides a clear conscience and the respect of others, there’s Godly Peace and Rest. Let us encourage one another.  Persevere and endure in Hope!