Don`t Give Up

Acts 17.1-15

Reference: v.2 As his custom was, Paul went into the synagogue, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures (NIV Bible)

Explore: I don’t like ice skating.  I enjoy skiing and I can get by on rollerblades, but I refuse to ice skate.  This dislike for ice skating all came about during a Year 9 school camp in Canberra where our evening activity was ice skating.  For the duration of the evening I spent 25% of the time holding on to the side rail and the other 75% on the wet icey floor!  Although this was nearly 15 years ago now I still refuse to get back onto the icey skating rink and give it another go.
Fortunately for the early Christian church Paul did not give up on his missionary adventures as quickly as I gave up ice skating.  Although he had already been beaten, imprisoned and tormented by the religious people of the time, he continued teaching about Jesus in many different places.  Even in this passage he goes back to the one place three times to explain the Scriptures and confirm that Jesus is the Christ.

Application: Clearly from my ice skating example I do not have the perseverance that Paul has.  However it is an attribute that is incredibly important in our walk of faith.  We will not always be able to understand God, but we must persevere in getting to know Him.  We will not always explain our faith perfectly to a friend or colleague, but we must persevere in talking about it when the opportunity arises.  We will not always be the best example of a Jesus-follower, but we must persevere in being the best person we can for God.
Not everything will always go our way, that is not the guarentee that God gives us when we become a Christian, however God knows that our faith will become stronger if we continue to persevere through the trials in living for Him.

Prayer: Lord, sometimes we feel so alone and out of our depth.  Please give us your strength and wisdom so that we can persevere for you.  Amen.

Acts