I Must Endure
". . . though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things He suffered." (Hebrews 5:8) It never dawned on me that Jesus had things to learn. I always assumed that because He was God, He knew everything there was to know. Yet the scriptures teach He emptied Himself of the privileges and prerogatives of His deity, and became like us in every way, yet without sin (Philippians 2:5-11). Jesus humbled Himself to the lowly status of a child, student, and servant – and the method the Father used to train and mature Him included suffering. Only then was He able to receive the mantle of High Priest, which was the Father’s purpose for Him. I point these things out so we might realize the marvelous hand of God in our lives, even in things that hurt and things we don’t like or understand. When we begin to view our sufferings in light the eternal weight of glory God has for us, we can endure them with a joy that blesses God and confounds the world. Most importantly, w...