Don't Quit

 

Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.   Galatians 6:9 

Sometimes I hear things, and I hear them so often that I really don’t give them much thought.  It’s not that I don’t hear or believe them, I just don’t think about it.   Then I get a visual of that thought, and suddenly, my perspective shifts.   This happened to me twice within the last two weeks, with the same thought.  What was the thought?   Don’t quit.  Sounds funny, because we hear it all the time.  So, we skip over it as we read or listen.  Afterall, it’s nothing we haven’t heard before, right?  However, last week a friend posted a video of a long grueling and exhausting hike that she had made.  She had about a mile or two left to hike.  As I watched, the thought came to me, what if she had quit, turned around and said, “This is too hard, I can’t go on”.  That would have been sad because the end of the hike was within her grasp.  I am glad she continued her hike.   Yesterday, we had a girl’s day at a corn maze.  We were given the task of finding sixteen stickers scattered around the maze.  It was great!  After two hours, we had all the stickers (stamps) but one.  It was called the Wood Devil (we nicknamed it the Corn Devil).  We had walked around the whole maze and could not find it.  I know because I had the map my walk app up on my phone so we would know we were not walking in circles.  Finally, I said, “If we don’t find it soon, we are going to have to give up”.   Fortunately, the ones I was with are not quitters and we kept looking even though it was hot, and we were tired.   We did find it a short time later.  We had the satisfaction of finishing the task.  In both cases, quitting would have been easy, and there was nothing more at stake than completing the task.  However, I also have seen and witnessed the fall of some very Christlike people in the family of God.  They started out well but, later in life, they fell away.    I don’t want to analyze what happened here, that’s not my goal.  The point is, they quit.  They were close to the finish line.  The goal was just ahead, and they decided they were done.  This hits home to me because I know I am closer to the finish line than I was. I want to be sure I complete the race.   The other thing I know is that none of us know how close we are to the end of our earthly journey.  Dear Christian, do not get tired or quite the journey you started with Jesus, keep going, the end is just ahead, and it will be worth it.  If you need to, slow down, or crawl but keep going.  Surround yourself with some people that will not let you quit, no matter what.