We have a dog and his name is Gideon. He's a 105 lb Labrador Retriever and he's an absolute joy to be around. He's 11 years old now and starting to show his age a bit but in the midst of his physical deterioration is the boundless exuberance of his youth. He has arthritis and some cataracts, he limps now a bit and has gray hair on his face and legs but his eyes still sparkle and his gaze is steady. His bark is as big as ever but his physical limitations are showing. What once was a magnificent creature who swam, chased, and jumped all day after rabbits, pheasants and geese, now gazes out over the fields and water surely reminiscing in his mind of bygone seasons when he was the hunter and master all of he saw. But when the spirit moves him he gamely rises to foster up one more pursuit albeit rather gimpy and slower but with all the passion and playfulness of days past. His tenacity and courage are still there but the body is forsaking him. But off he goes, time and time again. No matter what ails him on a particular day he rises again to live his life as fully as he can and never gives up. I was thinking as I was watching him the other day bark and chase after some geese flying over what a noble example he is. He unconditionally loves people and is always by your side no matter how bad the circumstances. You know I think I know Someone else like that! But more importantly he never gives up on who he was designed to be. I am sure that when he leaves us he will have left nothing in the tank. No days were wasted and he gave to our family all he had. And we will be blessed for it! Which brings me to my point.
Gideon has what we have but often don't use or abandon to easily and that's perseverance. We simply give up too often on life's challenges or trials. Sometimes when we are faced with serious hurdles and tests instead of putting our heads down, gritting our teeth, praying for strength and moving forward we abandon ship. Why? After all, the mettle of a ship's captain is not brought forth in calm seas. It's when he sails safely through the storms and wind tossed waves that he is the person he was trained to be. Or when a soldier runs back to get a fallen comrade in the pitch of battle forsaking his own life no matter what because he won't give up on a friend. Or when we lose a job or house or finances or worse yet our spouse or child. Our society today is full of opt out clauses that make it easy to give up and make excuses. It's almost as if we're afraid to be accountable or even worse seek to dismiss any personal responsibility for our failures or shortcomings when they are of our own doing. My dog doesn't know any better and I hate to say it has conducted himself much better than I have at times when I was faced with limitations or circumstances in my life. He adapts and overcomes or at the very least exhausts himself trying.
When Jesus was in the Garden Of Gethsemane the night before He was arrested after being betrayed by Judas, He was praying to His Father. In the midst of the sorrow of His prayers He asked that if it be possible His Father let this impending judgment pass from His hand. In other words God could spare Jesus the horrible suffering and crucifixion He would endure. He was praying so fervently and emotionally that He sweat great drops of blood! But in an attitude of absolute obedience to God He said, "Father if you are willing take this cup from me, but your will not mine be done." Just imagine the gravity of Jesus' burden. He knew He would have to die for all of us. He had to bear all our sin and depravity and unworthiness Himself! He was without sin and blameless yet took full responsibility for us. He was fully God and probably could have opted out right then. Sorry folks, it's too hard for me. I'm going back to my heavenly realm. But He was fully obedient and knew that God did not send His Son to quit on us. Well, you know the rest of the story. Now, I am not trying to compare our sacrifice and service here to Christ's. We don't have His righteousness or holiness to do so. But we are divinely created in His Image. That means we have the same makeup and ability placed in us to give ourselves over to our Father's desire for our lives and to be obedient and serve that desire. It takes sacrifice and a lot of prayer to do so. But we can gather strength from Him to not give up on our problems and trials. We can face them, fight them and ultimately persevere over them. Then even if the circumstances defeat us on the surface we will still have a great spiritual victory! So try a little perseverance. You will never know true fulfillment and victory in your life till you do. Look what it did for you because Someone else chose not to quit.
Romans 5:3,4 Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.
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