This week I celebrate two years of good health. The other night Susan and I reminisced about the journey. In the midst of the storm it is so easy to think, “It’s not worth it!” But once we get to the other side, our feelings change. These two years have been priceless to me… and yet I know there is something even greater. How priceless is God’s unending love for us!
Was it worth it for the Father to offer up His precious Son? Was it worth it for Jesus to suffer as He did? In exchange for a year of difficulty, I have received two years with my family and friends… to work and to play… to laugh and to cry. In exchange for Himself, Jesus gained the wounded, the hopeless, and the lost. In exchange for His Son, the Father gained sons and daughters He is bringing to glory.
In the difficult parts of the journey, we may think, “It’s too hard to follow Jesus! Is this life of faith worth it?” Oh if we could hear the heart of the One who endured more than we can fathom: “Don’t give up! I understand the temptation to quit… it came against Me too… but your soul is priceless! Don’t compromise. Don’t shrink back. Don’t wither in the heat. I tell you, no one who follows Me will be sorry in the end. Your eye has not seen and your mind cannot even imagine the things My Father has prepared for you!”
May God grant us our Savior’s resolve as we run the race marked out for us.
“What good is it for a man to gain the whole world and yet lose or forfeit his very self?” Luke 9:25
“Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we’re in. Study how he did it. Because he never lost sight of where he was headed – that exhilarating finish in and with God – he could put up with anything along the way: cross, shame, whatever. And now he’s there, in the place of honor, right alongside God. When you find yourself flagging in your faith, go over that story again, item by item, that long litany of hostility he plowed through. That will shoot adrenaline into your souls!” Hebrews 12:2-3 (The Message)