Luke 9:51

I love the way Jesus teaches us volumes through His perfect example. The “time had fully come” for His crucifixion, resurrection and ascension and He is firm, fixed and steadfast on His mission towards accomplishing this goal. What a perfect day of the year for us to be discussing goals! How many New Year’s Eve resolutions have we made of changed behavior patterns only to have our resolve dwindle down to a mere acknowledgement of our need of change sans action! Let’s face it, what Jesus had in store for Him was not going to be what we would deem the perfect day (oh how little we know!). What He was after – the redemption of men – was about to be accomplished through His work on the cross and His eyes were focused on His goal. The joy He had was not in the work itself, but what the work would ultimately accomplish, praise Him! Kind of makes those ten pounds we want to shed sound like child’s play does it not? I am reminded of the words in Hebrews Chapter 12: 1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. 2 Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. Heb 12:1-3 (NIV)
Perseverance is huge in our walk of faith and its importance should never be underplayed. We are to run with this mindset of perseverance - ridding ourselves of the sin that so easily trips us up, entangles us and adds dead weight to our walks. We are to keep a constant gaze with our eyes fixed on Christ who went before us perfecting our faith walk and the end result our faith walk will bring. As stated before, Jesus’ joy came from His focus on the end result – bringing many sons to glory. This is huge! I was recently listening to a sermon describing the difference between our preferences and our convictions which may shed some light to our thoughts on resolution. Our preferences are something we favor, perhaps a choice we would make if we were to pick between two things, yet it is not enough to keep us going when the going gets tough. We often cave in. Basically, we believe the end result is not worth our effort. The work involved to achieve whatever it may be is more difficult for us than the value of what we would be receiving. Contrast this to convictions. Convictions are a firm belief or an opinion that are so grounded within a person that they play out in their actions. It is what we say and do and live. Convictions stay the course. This is why we often hear many people espouse truth yet not live it. What we are hearing is their preference and not their conviction. We live what we believe. Paul lived his life with perseverance and focus. He tells us in Romans: 1 Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us. Romans 5:1-5 (NIV)
As believers, our hope is centered in God and His promises – and His promises do not disappoint. We have the privilege of approach, as one of high rank, to stand in the sphere of God’s grace because Christ has ushered us into this position. And, though falling short of it now, we rejoice in the time when we will share in Christ’s glory. This is our confident hope as believers. This is what keeps us from not growing weary and losing heart. James tells us: 4 Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. James 1:4 (NIV)
I do not know about you, but I would like to be mature, complete and not lacking anything!5 May the Lord direct your hearts into God's love and Christ's perseverance. 2 Thess 3:4-5 (NIV)
Meditation on the love of God and the patient endurance of Christ will motivate us to persevere through obeying His word and enduring our trials with great patience.