Don't stop keep following Jesus
A glorious inheritance was won for us by Christ’s own faithful perseverance and patience. In the incarnation, he came alongside us in our sufferings, joining us in this broken world. He not only began well but also faithfully lived his entire life in service to God. The writer to the Hebrews tells us that Christ “learned obedience through what he suffered” (Heb. 5:8). In his case, his suffering produced endurance, character, and hope (cf. Rom. 5:3) as he persisted in faithful obedience right until the very end.
He patiently endured the disappointment over disciples who failed to understand his teaching, who squabbled over the top places in the kingdom, and who then abandoned him at the end. He patiently bore the grief of losing friends whom he loved to death and being betrayed by one of his own disciples. He patiently put up with a people who cried out, “Hosanna to the king!” one day and then, “Crucify him!” just a few days later. He patiently put up with human followers who are just like us.
In fact, he completely identified with us in our experience of living in a world of much tribulation with one exception. On the last day before his death, at the height of his own personal tribulation on the cross, he was not preserved and kept by his Father but rather was handed over to the death and hell that we deserved for our sins.
Yet this was precisely how our glorious inheritance was secured. This is how Jesus, having endured much tribulation, overcame the world, constructing the ultimate brick house as a safe refuge for all his people.
Since our overcoming is rooted and grounded in his overcoming, we do not have to be afraid that we will fail to persevere. If persevering were our work, not one of us would persevere.
He holds us, however, in his mighty hand, preserving his flock and strengthening us by his Spirit to remain faithful through the long dark nights of life (John 10:28–29). He walks with us through the deep valleys of trial and tribulation, empathising with us in our pain and empowering us to persevere.
Christians persevere in faith as the Lord upholds them by his grace through the trials and tribulations of life. Do you have faith—not a blind faith that everything will somehow turn out well but a faith that believes in the Lord in the midst of the trials and difficulties and knows that he will work out even these situations for your good and for his glory?
You cannot persevere in the faith until you have begun in the faith and laid down your life at the foot of the cross. You cannot persevere in faith until you have come to know that you personally are a sinner who desperately needs the grace and mercy of God to forgive you of your sins. That is where we must all start.
Jesus says to us, “Come and follow me through the path of tribulations that I have lovingly designed for your discipleship. Endure the hardships that I have carefully planned for your growth in grace so that you may showcase that grace to a watching world.” “Come, follow me,” says Jesus, “the road winds through much tribulation, but the end will be worth it all.” The end is the kingdom of God! The end is the glory that God has prepared for his saints. Be patient and persevere, preserved by the unchanging grace of God, until you reach the end of your journey, which is the unmatched joy of heaven.
