Never Stop Press On

Other than a few grayling, this hunting trip had been a bust. It was my dad's one and only hunting trip to Alaska, and I was trying to get him a caribou. On day four, we finally spotted a few cows on the very top of a distant mountain. 30 years ago my dad was used to hunting hard all day, but he wasn't used to climbing in tundra. I was very surprised when he said, "Let's go try to get one."

It was quite a distance to the base of the mountain. Fortunately, it was early in the morning and we had all day to climb. Keeping time on my watch, we would slowly meander uphill for 5 minutes and then sit down for 5. In this way, we finally reached the summit- only to discover that we were on the wrong mountain! Our cow caribou were one more mountain away. 

That's life, isn't it? Sometimes all of the effort and hard work simply doesn't pay off. There times when wisdom says, "Quit. You gave it your best shot." At other times wisdom says, "Keep after it, you'll find a way." And for a few things- really important things- wisdom says, "Never, ever, ever, ever quit! God will see you through." We never stop loving. We never stop forgiving. We never stop serving. We never stop inviting others to come to Jesus. The Apostle Paul said in Philippians 3:14, "I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus." Press on, my friend, and you will be blessed! -Pastor Brad