THE POWER OF ENDURANCE

 

I am amazed at the Saviour’s resistance to many temptations He encountered in mortality to invoke His godship so He could be worshipped for who He truly is. I consider this His greatest trial second only to His Atonement. Consider just three examples:

 

1.     Whilst in the wilderness being tested, the adversary tempted Him to cast Himself off the pinnacle of the temple. How easy it would have been to prove His divinity to the throngs of worshippers below if He had cast Himself down and allowed the angels to save Him. What proof that would have been that He was the Son of God! What a beginning to His ministry it would be have been if people could have seen immediately who He truly was. They would have flocked to Him accepting Him as the awaited Messiah. Seductive as the temptation was, He resisted. (Matthew 4:5-7)

2.     The miracle of feeding 5,000 produced a profound impression upon the masses who saw in Him the awaited Prophet like Moses who would feed them manna from heaven. Not only could He feed them like Moses, but He could also deliver them like Moses. Their recognition of the King that stood before them fanned the fire of the Messianic prophecy.  All the Saviour had to do is take up the sword against the Romans and defeat them with not only the Jews who were ready for the uprising but with His legions of angels. He could have there and then sat on the throne of David as the rightful king that He was. This the Saviour resisted to do. (John 6:3-15)

3.     With the hour of His immense suffering approaching, the ruling class of the people who sought to kill Him demanded He produce a sign from heaven to prove that He was the Son of God. Once again, how easy that would have been for Him to do so and avoid going through the worst suffering imaginable. How easy it would have been to instead assume His role as the God of this earth and all the earths He had created. (Matthew 16:2-3; Mark 8:12)

 

The Saviour was completely devoid of pride and focused entirely on the one true thing that could ennoble His godship, His Atonement. Nothing else mattered. Enduring to the end was the ultimate act that would glorify Him and His name. So it is with us, whether we are here simply to be proven worthy of our final destination or to achieve something of great significance on the way, we must not be derailed because the reward is only in endurance. Endurance is power and that power is in Christ. By virtue of our discipleship we have access to that power. The crown awaits for all who desire it, pray for it and work for it. 

- CATHRYNE ALLEN

(Art: Lion of Righteousness by Greg Collins)