Finishing the Walk

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My daughter begged to ride her purple bike all day.  The day had been grueling from sunup.  Labor Day was exactly that, full of labor.  Yet, her pleas continued like the persistent widow in the New Testament.  I finally relinquished after dinner.

 As she fastened her lavender kitten helmet, she could barely contain her enthusiasm.  I rallied and gave myself a pep talk.  It was a beautiful evening. We had made it a grand total of 100 feet when my daughter started complaining.  She wanted to push her bike instead of ride it.  After a little coaching, she peddled up the street.  We made it three-quarters of the way around the block and she suddenly stops.  

 "Mom, I can't make it!" my daughter cries.  

 "Yes you can.  We are almost home."  I tell her.

 "No. I am finished."  She declares.

 "Kaitlyn, we haven't made it home yet.  You can't give up."

 At that point, she gets off the bike and sits down.  I would like to say that we had a wonderful godly moment of prayer and reflection, but this is real life.  I walked the bike home (I tried to ride it and use it as a scooter, which were both epic fails).  My daughter kicked a rock the rest of the way home.

 Our little experience serves as an illustration of how we as Christians live sometimes.  We start out with great enthusiasm.  Yet, we often are not prepared for the full course of the journey.  Kaitlyn stated after she came in that she should have drunk more water before her journey.  When we talked further, she realized that she simply gave up because the journey felt difficult and she saw no further reward in what she was doing.

 Hebrews 10:35-36 encourages believers to continue to persevere in their faith no matter what.  It states, "Therefore do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. 36 For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised."  The promise we are to receive if we do not give up in our faith is eternal life with God.   When we compare our future glory to any present suffering, it would be like comparing Olympic gold to a splinter.  I am sure if you polled anyone who has competed in the Olympics, they would take a splinter to stand on the podium and hear their country's national anthem be played in their honor.

 What about you?  What are you willing to endure for the opportunity of eternity?  I would love to hear your thoughts.
  

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