The Lord has been speaking to me about endurance. The one who endures to the end, he will be saved (Matthew 24:13).
What does it mean to endure? What is the end?
I know that in this verse Jesus is talking about the last days. Bad things are going to happen. It won’t be easy.
I think of endurance as lasting. If I last or make it to the end, I’ll be saved. And I think of lasting or making it as surviving. And that means living.
So if I live to the end, I’ll be saved?
When I think of living, I think in terms of the physical. Yet, I’m sure Jesus wasn’t talking about the physical. He came that we might have life, and have it abundantly (John 10:10). That doesn’t mean we experience all this physical world has to offer. No, the life Jesus is talking about is of the Spirit (Romans 8:1-8). It’s eternal.
If I live to the end, I’ll be saved. If I live in the Spirit, I’ll be saved. If I last in spirit and truth — in Jesus — I’ll be saved. If I endure in Christ, I’ll be saved. Is that what Jesus means when He says the one who endures will be saved?
I believe so. He who endures, he who takes up his cross, he who doesn’t deny his Lord in and through the battle, will be saved.
“If you remain in Me, and My words remain in you….Remain in my love,” Jesus says.
It won’t be easy — in the physical. It isn’t easy — in the physical. And in the spiritual, it’s a battle.
But Jesus has overcome. And as we remain in Him, we overcome. We endure.
And that brings me full circle. He’s been speaking to me about endurance, right here, right now.
It’s endurance for today. It’s remaining in Christ today. It’s living by faith today.
If I endure in Christ each day, I will endure to the end.