JOHN SHIRK – In the Year of Exploration, today’s Reason to Believe is the perseverance of the saints.

Church history is filled with testimonies of men and women who endured in the faith, even though their witness for Jesus was the reason for much hardship.

The Apostle Paul described his perseverance in the faith in Second Corinthians 4:8: “We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body.”

Paul lived with hope in the midst of life’s harsh realities, because he kept Jesus in view in his faith. He saw the temporary trials of this life as a light burden compared to the eternal glory that awaited him. And so, he said, “Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.” Hebrews 12:1 encourages us to run with perseverance the race marked out for us.

The perseverance of the saints is a testimony of a faith refined through the fire and is a reason to believe in God’s good news.

John Shirk

john@wjtl.com