Draw Near – 365 Guides to Greater Intimacy with GodSample

DON'T GIVE UP One day, the famous writer Eugene Fields went to his editor and announced, "I'm quitting. There will be no column tomorrow. I'm giving up." The editor replied, "Gene, there is a printer downstairs who has three children dangerously ill with scarlet fever, and he's not giving up." The columnist got the point and said, "I'm not giving up either." That day, he wrote one of the most stirring columns of his colorful career. There is great power in example! The early Christians had become discouraged. There were so many trials and persecutions. It was then James wrote them saying: Therefore be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. Then he mentions they should remember that many others before them had also been tested but stood firm in trial. They, too, got the point. They didn't give up; and, today, we have the vibrant church of Jesus Christ moving on. When we become discouraged with problems of life, may we remember that thousands of others have suffered similar hardships and stood true. Today, all over the world, there are thousands of faithful Christians who are facing severe persecution but they are not giving up. May we always remember that because Christ, our Great Example, overcame, so can we. James adds: My brethren, take the prophets, who spoke in the name of the Lord, as an example of suffering and patience (James 5:10).