Endurance

             So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. (Hebrews 10:35-36)

The theme at BibleGateway.com seems to be endurance, and it’s a good theme, because it goes against everything we want for ourselves, even if it is precisely what we hope for lots of other people. We don’t tend to want to keep going when the going isn’t pleasant. “Good” people should only have to endure good things. For the rich, those with whom we disagree, and other and various sundry wicked people, we tend to think in terms of repent, endure, or perish. It’s the whole idea behind karma. The problem is that reality doesn’t work that way.

In fact, part of the proof that a person is good is that they remain good even while enduring pain, difficulty,  and injustice. That’s what Jesus did, and as His disciples, we’re supposed to follow His example. Quite often, we think of the events listed in the Gospels as His example. It’s only part. There’s also everything listed from Genesis 1 to the end of Revelation. It’s not one rejection, betrayal, or sin, is billions. I don’t think any of us have a good idea of how often we sin in a single hour. So if God, being good, endures what He has endured and endures on our behalf, we should be willing to learn to endure a little more or a little longer than we have.

But beyond that, there’s the fact that in our case, there are benefits to endurance. As yesterday’s verse pointed out, perseverance/endurance produces character, and character produces hope. In today’s verse, endurance leads to God’s keeping of His promises and to rewards. And as we look through Scripture, one of those rewards is God. There’s some food for thought.