Hopeful Endurance

Today's Three-minute Bible Study
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Title: Hopeful Endurance------------------------------ Date: 7/19/2001
Keywords: "endure" "hope" "instantaneous"
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Passage: 1 Thessalonians 1:2-3*

2. We always thank God for all of you, mentioning you in our prayers.

3. We continually remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.

Questions

1. How would you rate your ability to endure things?

 

2. How would you classify technologies' impact on your life -- more enabling or disabling?

 

Practical help

This electronic information age is simply mind boggling. It seems that every two or three months someone invents a quicker more convenient way to interact or exchange information. Just when we think we've achieved instantaneous information exchange someone goes and redefines an instant.

All in all this technology pace has been immensely beneficial to our society, but it doesn't come without its side-effects. Take the quality of endurance, for example. The American Heritage dictionary says endurance is "the act, quality, or power of withstanding hardship or stress. The state or fact of persevering." In days past people had to develop their ability to endure because most things just couldn't happen instantly. Today our technological wizardry conditions us to not endure much at all. When we need relief we want it NOW!

Looking today at the last thing the Apostle Paul remembered before God concerning the Thessalonians (verse 3) we see the quality of endurance highlighted. But this is not your run of the mill, self-motivated sort of endurance; this is an endurance empowered by something which transcends any grit you could muster for a mere human goal. This is endurance inspired by hope in the Lord Jesus Christ! A hope based on the reality of who Jesus is and on the truth of what he accomplished on your behalf (click here if you're not aware of this truth). Endurance based on this hope is endurance you can claim. It really can enable you to resist those urges to surf to porn sites. Just remain hopeful.

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*Scriptures are from The Holy Bible: New International Version © Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. All rights reserved.