Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. …
So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. For in just a very little while, “He who is coming will come and will not delay. … ” But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who believe and are saved.
Character Check In what areas in my life am I tempted to quit?
In Business Terms In 1972 NASA launched the exploratory space probe Pioneer 10. According to Leon Jaroff in Time magazine, the satellite’s primary mission was to reach Jupiter, photograph it and its moons, and beam data to earth about the planet’s magnetic field, radiation belts, and atmosphere. Scientists regarded this as a bold plan because up until then no satellite had gone beyond Mars, and they feared the asteroid belt would destroy the satellite before it could reach its target.
But Pioneer 10 accomplished its mission and much more. Swinging past Jupiter in November 1973, the space probe was hurled at a higher rate of speed toward the edge of the solar system by the planet’s immense gravity. At one billion miles from the sun, Pioneer 10 passed Saturn. At some two billion miles, it hurtled past Uranus; Neptune, at nearly three billion miles; Pluto, at almost four billion miles. By 1997, twenty-five years after its launch. Pioneer 10 was more than six billion miles from the sun. And despite that immense distance, Pioneer 10 continues to beam back radio signals to scientists on Earth.
“Perhaps most remarkable,” writes Jaroff, “is that those signals emanate from an eight-watt transmitter, which radiates about as much power as a bedroom night-light, and takes more than nine hours to reach Earth.”
Engineers designed Pioneer 10 with a useful life of only three years. By simple longevity, its tiny eight-watt transmitter radio has accomplished more than anyone thought possible. So it is when we offer ourselves to serve the Lord. God can work even through someone with eight-watt abilities.
—Craig Brian Larson
Something to Think About Perseverance is a great element of success. If you only knock long enough and loudly enough at the gate, you are sure to wake up somebody. – Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
