Endurance
July 25, 2010
“But the one who endures to the end, he will be saved.”—- Matthew 24:13
I enjoy cartoons, not today’s, but older ones. Show me a Disney, Looney Tunes, Silly Symphonies—any earlier than the 60’s- and I am ecstatic. My favorite character is Wyle E. Coyote. Why? Because I see me in him, I suppose. He makes plans, develops them, sets the plans into action, and gets slapped down because of a smart-alecky Road Runner and the Acme Company. 
Wyle tries, fails, recovers, tries, and fails, and so on. Wyle endures trains and trucks running over him, falls off enormous heights with or without a boulder following him down, and many other things. He endures and keeps trying, for Wyle never is defeated by circumstances.
We have various trials, situations, health issues, friends, or family members that can cause us to throw in the towel and turn from Jesus rather than enduring and staying faithful no matter what. All of these things are external forces acting upon us. However, God makes it very clear that He is always with us and will sustain us.
This passage makes it very clear that external events or forces cannot separate us from the love of Christ and God. What a tremendous promise given to us by a loving Father and a loving Savior.
Several years ago we visited several brethren in a nursing home on Sunday afternoons. One of those that we met with was a sister in the Lord in her 80’s. She had gone blind a few years earlier and she was full of self-pity and bitterness. We tried to help her understand that she would have a better body and could see again in heaven and that the trials of this life are nothing compared to the riches of heaven. She never could get past her bitterness over the loss of sight and blamed God constantly. We need to trust God that all will work out for good and have as our goal to be where God and Jesus are and never give up.
“What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things? Who will bring a charge against God’s elect? God is the one who justifies; who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us. Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Just as it is written, for your sake we are being put to death all day long; we were considered as sheep to be slaughtered. But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”—- Romans 8:31-39
Almighty Heavenly Father, help us to endure faithfully until the end of our lives that we may look upon Your face in all its glory. Let us not lose heart and turn away from you. Help us to remember that nothing can separate us from Your love. In Jesus’ name. ─ Ed
Ed Wittlif ~ Denver, Colorado (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Ed Wittlif, former preacher of Albert Lea Church of Christ in Albert Lea, Minnesota, is a University Church of Chirst member.