Patient endurance is what you need now, so that you will continue to do God’s will. Then you will receive all that he has promised. Hebrews 10:36
It has been said that 90% of being a long-distance runner is all mental. It is easy to see if you have ever tried running, whether around the track, on a trail, or in the hills. Almost instantly, after starting, you want to give up. This creates a mental battle between your mind that says, “stop, walk a little bit, you worked hard this week!” and getting to your goal of finishing the run. Good runners have to fight through this mental battle, and eventually, the exhaustion wears off, and they can keep running for miles and miles. This, my friends, is the key that most runners know: we are more capable of persevering than we even realize. On a deeper level, as followers of Christ, we know that God gives us the strength to persevere when we run the spiritual race that He has called us to.
The writer of Hebrews wrote about perseverance, and one place where he spoke about it was Hebrews 10. In this chapter, he called followers of Christ to persevere in light of God’s faithfulness. As He wrote about God’s faithfulness, he reminded readers to persevere and to keep going, regardless of whatever they faced. He urged readers, “Patient endurance is what you need now so that you will continue to do God’s will. Then you will receive all that He has promised” (verse 36). This statement was a reminder to keep going and not give up. Clinging to God and His promises, this verse from Hebrews 10 reminds us to keep going regardless of what we face. When we persevere, this verse reminds us that several things happen. First of all, we do God’s will. We live the lives of faith that He has called us to do. Secondly, we receive all that He has promised. His promises include His presence, His peace, and ultimately salvation if we place our faith in Him.
Perseverance is easy when life goes smoothly, but when things become difficult and life throws us curveballs, it becomes much more difficult. It is in these moments, however, when our perseverance is tested the most. Will we keep going and trust God, even when we face trials and difficulties, or will we give up and allow our circumstances to overtake us? We serve a faithful God, and we can trust Him to continue to be faithful to us. As a result, we can persevere. We can keep going, refusing to give up.
Moving Toward Action
Our call today is to persevere. Is there an area that you currently want to give up? Maybe you have been trying to share your faith with a friend or family member, and they still seem resistant to Christianity. Perhaps you made a difficult decision that you knew God called you to make, and things are hard right now, and you want to give up. Whatever the case may be, may you find encouragement today, believing that God will sustain you and walk with you through everything you are facing. Keep going! Do not give up. Run the race with perseverance, knowing that God is with you.
Hebrews 10:19-39 (NLT)
And so, dear brothers and sisters, we can boldly enter heaven’s Most Holy Place because of the blood of Jesus. By his death, Jesus opened a new and life-giving way through the curtain into the Most Holy Place. And since we have a great High Priest who rules over God’s house, let us go right into the presence of God with sincere hearts fully trusting him. For our guilty consciences have been sprinkled with Christ’s blood to make us clean, and our bodies have been washed with pure water.
Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep his promise. Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works. And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near.
Dear friends, if we deliberately continue sinning after we have received knowledge of the truth, there is no longer any sacrifice that will cover these sins. There is only the terrible expectation of God’s judgment and the raging fire that will consume his enemies. For anyone who refused to obey the law of Moses was put to death without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. Just think how much worse the punishment will be for those who have trampled on the Son of God, and have treated the blood of the covenant, which made us holy, as if it were common and unholy, and have insulted and disdained the Holy Spirit who brings God’s mercy to us. For we know the one who said,
“I will take revenge.
I will pay them back.”
He also said,
“The Lord will judge his own people.”
It is a terrible thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
Think back on those early days when you first learned about Christ. Remember how you remained faithful even though it meant terrible suffering. Sometimes you were exposed to public ridicule and were beaten, and sometimes you helped others who were suffering the same things. You suffered along with those who were thrown into jail, and when all you owned was taken from you, you accepted it with joy. You knew there were better things waiting for you that will last forever.
So do not throw away this confident trust in the Lord. Remember the great reward it brings you! Patient endurance is what you need now, so that you will continue to do God’s will. Then you will receive all that he has promised.
“For in just a little while,
the Coming One will come and not delay.
And my righteous ones will live by faith.
But I will take no pleasure in anyone who turns away.”
But we are not like those who turn away from God to their own destruction. We are the faithful ones, whose souls will be saved.
©2024 Sagebrush Church
