Don't Give Up

“And Jesus cried with a loud voice, and gave up the ghost.”

It dawned on me recently that the only thing Jesus ever gave up was the “ghost” (the spirit of a dead man), at His death. If there was ever an individual that had an excuse to give up, it was He. And we are not speaking of isolated occasions, but numerous ones. In spite of all the trials, misunderstandings, and sufferings of life, He never quit on God. Isaiah tells us of Him, prophetically, “He shall not be discouraged.”  To one who is familiar with the gospel account of His earthly life, this is indeed a startling statement, is it not?

It is recorded of Him, “He shall not fail nor be discouraged,” and “I delight to do thy will, O my God.” This included the Cross and all that was associated with it. A great number around Him were giving up, even those close to Him, but that didn’t dissuade Him, “He set His face like a flint.” He had burned all His bridges; there was no going back! Hebrews hints at what His secret of endurance was — He kept His eyes on the joy that was set before Him. The writer of this blessed book then tells us we are to, “Consider Him that endured.”

“Dust, rusty nails, and blood notwithstanding, the ground at the foot of the Cross is the only vantage point from which to view life clearly. To see things there is to see them truly.”

(Rebecca Manley Pippert)