Endurance

But the one who endures to the end will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations. Matthew 24: 13-14

I have signed up to swim for Swim Across America which raises money for cancer research and cancer patient support. This year I will swim laps in a pool but next year I hope to do the open water swim in the Long Island Sound. This morning I went out and swam laps in the ocean and fought the incoming tide and the currents of the ocean while a gentle rain came down. The air had cooled from the previous days heat but the challenge is still before me - to build up my endurance so I can finish the challenge. Some days I am hopeful and some days my old body reminds me what a foolhardy commitment I made.

Jesus was telling the religious leadership about the end of the institutions they had built and which they relied on heavily, sometimes worshiping the institution and her rules more than they worshiped God. Whether it is our bodies, a relationship, an institution, a rule or way of life - they all come to an end and we don't like to hear it. We think we are superior or brighter than those who came before, and Jesus wanted the leadership and his disciples to remember, when things around them crumbled, that enduring - not righteousness, nor any other piety -was they key to being a child of God.

Today, I want to be counted among those who endure to the end. Among those who trust God despite the tenor of the times, the crumbling of institutions or the end of eras.
I pray that God will give me the strength to endure and the confidence to trust every day, every moment to the hands of the Creator.