Throughout history, rulers have come and gone. Some are forgotten, some are revered,  and some are despised. None are eternal. We’re a week from Election Day, and although the negative TV ads and junk mail propaganda are driving me crazy, I feel secure in knowing that every few years, we have the opportunity to choose new leaders for our community and nation.

I never get worked up over who wins an election because the terms truly aren’t more than a flicker of time. We aren’t stuck with these people forever.

Our Lord, on the other hand, endures. We are under his rule forever. And sometimes, I think we have a hard time accepting that. 1 John 5:3 tells us that his commands are not burdensome, yet I’ve heard some bemoan the fact that becoming a Christian means to turn our backs on sin forever.

“Does this mean I can never … again?”

“I can’t imagine going the entire rest of my life without …”

“Does God really expect me to completely shun sin for the rest of my life? All sin?”

Others feel as though grace gives us an out. After all, no one can be perfect, so if I lapse for a brief time and forget to follow Him, that’s just my human nature. Right? He promised to forgive me! Forever is just too long.

This idea is ridiculous. From Psalm 45:6, we know that God’s throne is forever and ever, and even more than that, He is a righteous ruler.

I Peter 1:22-25 says this:

Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart, having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever, because

“All flesh is as grass,
And all the glory of man as the flower of the grass.
The grass withers,
And its flower falls away,
But the word of the Lord endures forever.”

If His promises endure, then so should we.

The truth is, we’ve become such a wishy-washy, quitter society that we seem to have no endurance for anything. Don’t like the coach? Quit the team. Hate our boss? Quit the job. Someone else is faster? Drop out of the race. Spouse is annoying? End the marriage.

The God who created us deserves better. He deserves our faithfulness and persistence. And though we don’t deserve it, we have his guarantee:

Matthew 10:22 And you shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake: but he that endures to the end shall be saved.