In This Issue:
Marching On
Don’t Quit!
Loyalty
Volume: 948 March 11, 2024
Theme: Quitting
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In respect to the many unidentified, fallen soldiers, there is a monument to their honor at the Arlington National Cemetery. It is the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. There, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, the elite guards of the 3rd U. S. Infantry watch over the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier through all weather conditions.
Many visitors go to watch the precision of the guards, especially at the time of the changing of the lone guard. It is a precision exchange of the patrol. During one such change, the relief Commander, inspecting the Tomb Sentinel’s weapon, dropped the rifle for a split second. During that time, the bayonet speared through the Sentinel’s shoe. Both, trained to be respectful and to finish their task, never let it be known what had happened.
A bystander’s filming of the event showed the quick slip and a quick grimace on the soldier’s face as the sharp blade pierced his foot. As the Commander regained control of the weapon, the exercise was continued. Most did not know what had happened as the two soldiers continued. Their duty was completed, rhythm was never lost, and the two continued their task. They marched on. Except for the blood from the one man’s foot injury and a quick grimace, bystanders never knew what had transpired.
The same should be said of faithful believers. They may face trials, tribulations, and tremendous testing, but their testimony should still be upheld, and their mission should be continued. They have hope and guidance no matter what befalls them. With the confidence that whatever happens in their life, no matter what pain, suffering, stress, or discomfort they face, they are on the winning side and will ultimately be victorious.
I have been at a funeral where a wife had lost her husband of 50+ years. There was peace in her handling such a tremendous loss, and her biggest concern that day was more for the hardships of some who gave her their condolences than her loss. She marched on.
In the hospital room of a man suffering the ravages of a dreadful and sometimes painful disease, the godly patient was more concerned about the hardships an unsaved hospital roommate was facing than his own. He was more burdened for the soul of the lost person than his difficulty. He marched on, and his anguish was barely noticeable as he dealt with his trial.
The generosity of the aged woman was tremendous. The one who visited her had tremendous needs for her family and out-of-work husband. The widow saw the need and was burdened for her young visitor. She loaded the visitor up with goods she had preserved earlier that year and many other necessities she found on her mostly empty shelves. She gave almost all she had, and the needy visitor never even knew that she was being given almost the last the elderly woman had to eat. The aged widow marched on knowing that the good Lord, who had always provided in the past, would again help her in her time of need.
Some Christians go through trials and testing poorly, kicking, screaming, and blaming God. Others are confident that their God knows of their situation, trust wholly in His control, and have peace in their valley of tribulation. When you face difficulties, do you trust that God’s grace through the trial will be enough, or are you a “kicker and a screamer”? Are you a good testimony for the cause of Christ, or not? Do you march on to complete your task, no matter what happens in your life?
“And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10 Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.” II Cor 12:9-10 Also: I Peter 4:14.
“I am only one, but I am one. I cannot do everything, but I can do something. And that which I can do, by the grace of God, I will do.” — D. L. Moody
Too many quit or desire to when the going gets rough. In most cases, one never really quits the problem; one just runs away from it. The dilemma is still there.
Quitters are everywhere:
- Husbands feel they cannot handle the “burden” of being a husband and father and run away. Although he is distant from his family, he is still a father and husband. His running away has not changed that. The problem he ran away from usually gets far bigger than it originally was because he failed to deal with the situation.
- Wives run off, abandoning families and husbands. However, she is still a wife and mother. She’s just missing in action.
- Children sometimes do not like their parents’ rules. They run away, but they still have the same parents. They just put space between the unsolved problem that will probably haunt them the rest of their lives unless they stay and work out the difficulty.
- Students quit school but usually spend their lives without training and education. The rest of their lives are stalled because they never learned the lessons needed to improve their lives.
- Friends quit long-term friendships because of arguments.
- Employees quit when they do not like what is happening at the workplace.
It usually is easy to walk away from an uncomfortable situation. It does not take character, intelligence, or common sense to run away when the way gets tough. Rarely is anything solved by quitting, however.
There will always be problems in life. Unsolved problems have a way of following us wherever we go.
Many take their quitting lifestyle and try to apply it to their spiritual lives. Here are several reasons why one cannot quit on God:
You cannot quit being a Christian. Once a true Christian, always a Christian. You did not earn it. Salvation was a gift if you trusted Jesus’ finished work on the cross as payment for all your sins. You cannot lose that, if you really trusted Him in the first place. However, too many quit being Christ-like, and that is why this world is flooded with persons professing to be Christians, but their lifestyles and testimonies do not look any different than a lost person’s.
“And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.” John 10:28-29
You cannot quit because the enemy has nothing to offer. There are only two sides – Satan’s and God’s. If you are truly saved by faith, you cannot get unsaved and be on the loser’s side. You can, however, have a life that looks like the losing side and have little peace in this life.
“Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.” Ephesians 6:13
You cannot quit because victory may be just around the corner. Troubles and tribulations are part of the school of life. You may be very close to passing the “test” and completing life’s next lesson. Do not quit now.
“And the Lord shall deliver me from every evil work, and will preserve me unto his heavenly kingdom: to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.” II Timothy 4:18
You cannot quit when you make a mistake. Just get back in the saddle and try again.
“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:35-39
You cannot quit now; you will miss the harvest. Maybe one day, your problem will be over, and you will reap a blessing from the tribulation. Perhaps it will be tomorrow or the day after. Spiritual fruit does not come the day it is planted.
“Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.” I Corinthians 15:58 Also: John 15:4.
Life always has difficulties. If you are a Christian, you are on the winning side. Do not quit now. Victory is possible, and it is a blessing when it is achieved.
“Don’t think you get nothing from quitting. You get guilt, anger, depression, confusion, etc. … You never said they were feelings you wanted.”
— Nicholas O’Callaghan
Loyalty
Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest, March 5
“But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God.” Acts 20:24
Joy means the perfect fulfillment of that for which I was created and regenerated, not just the successful doing of a thing. The joy of our Lord was in doing what the Father sent Him to do, and He said, “Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you.” John 20:21
Have I received a ministry from the Lord? If so, I have to be loyal to it, to count my life precious only for the fulfilling of that ministry. Think of the satisfaction it will be to hear Jesus say, “… Well done, thou good and faithful servant: …” (Mat. 25:21); to know that you have done what He sent you to do. We have all should find our niche in life, and spiritually we find it when we receive our ministry from the Lord. In order to do, this we must have companied with Jesus. We must know Him as more than a personal Saviour.
“… lovest thou me? … Feed my sheep.” (John 21:16)
There is no choice of service, only absolute loyalty to our Lord’s commission, and loyalty to do what you discern when you are in closest contact with God. If you have received a ministry from the Lord Jesus, you will know that the need is never the call; the need is the opportunity. The call is loyalty to the ministry you received when you were in real touch with Him.
“O Father, may it never be said of us that having come to an open door, we closed it; having come to a lighted candle, we quenched it; having heard the voice of a neighbor begging bread, we made denial.” — Mc Kenzie