18 October | Youth
«Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith.» Hebrews 12:2
We belong to Jesus. We are called to carry the baton of faith in our generation. We must also pass it on to the next generation. Therefore, we have to run with perseverance, looking at Jesus. We do not have to keep dealing with the weight of sin. We have to keep running, looking at Him. Jesus is love and fills us with love. He is full of grace and fills us with grace. He is full of faith and hope and fills us completely.
We must be willing to carry the cross. We must be a living sacrifice and live only for the glory of God. Looking only to Jesus is the secret of success in the Christian race. I believe that God will raise up a living generation in our day. The enemy does not want that. But when we love Jesus, nothing else matters. It is not social status, profession, title, or achievements that count. Jesus is everything! We need to run with perseverance, looking to Him.
Why do you have to run looking to Jesus? Easy. He is the ultimate prize. There is no motivation more significant than one day seeing Him face to face. This hope brings your breath back and injects new energy. Furthermore, we need to look to Jesus because He is the perfect model. Jesus has already run on this circuit and knows all the curves and obstacles along the way. And most importantly: He never gave up.
We have to exalt Him. Stop looking at other things. Look only to Jesus. He persevered. He was tempted for forty days in the desert, but he persevered. His family did not understand Him, but He persevered. The disciples abandoned Him, but He persevered. He was betrayed, condemned, trembled in Gethsemane, was humiliated, tortured, agonized on the cross, the crowd mocked Him, but He persevered. He only had the strength to shout: “It is finished!” because He persevered. He was only resurrected on the third day because He persevered.
As He left that tomb, He conquered hell and death. And because Jesus persevered, so can we. Do not dare tell me that this generation cannot persevere, that it cannot carry the torch of our Lord's cause. We will do this for the glory of God! In His name, because of Him and for Him!”