05/13/2026
๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐'๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐
๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐
๐๐๐ฒ ๐๐, ๐๐๐๐
I have hit a few milestones of late in my life. As I type this message, it marks the 25-year anniversary of my graduation from Divinity school at Knox College. I was invited to attend a brunch this week to reunite with some of my colleagues but unfortunately my schedule did not allow for me to attend. I am sure many of my professors from back then would be surprised that I have lasted 25 years in ministry. Another milestone I am experiencing currently is enduring another year where I am not able to celebrate the Toronto Maple Leafs winning the Stanley Cup. Many fellow Leaf fans have shared with me lately how they wonder if they will ever see it happen again in their lifetime. The milestone that has surprised me the most is that I am driving a car that has over 300,000 kilometers on it. We purchased a Toyota Prius hybrid back when my daughter was starting grade 7. At the time we purchased this vehicle it had approximately 120,000 kilometers on it. Over the years our Prius has had many trips back and forth to Ancaster for basketball practices. It has also travelled the highways to Toronto and east of there for various basketball tournaments. Then there were all the trips taking my daughter to school for grades 7 and 8, and then to high school for 5 years. Added to that are the kilometers put on by all my ministry tasks. Finally, this past year our Prius has made at least two trips per week to London taking my daughter back and forth to university. A couple of weeks ago the odometer on the Prius was approaching 300,000. I have never had a car in all my years with that many kilometers on it. Usually, I have traded in my vehicles when they approach 180,000 kilometers. The reason why we have kept the Prius all these years is it saves us so much on gas and has cost us very little in repairs. I was not driving the Prius when it crossed the milestone of 300,000 kilometers. At last glance it is now showing 301,940 kilometers. I canโt believe this new milestone for me when it comes to one of my vehicles. I used to kid a fellow minister when he was still driving a car that had that many kilometers on it. It would not surprise me if I am still driving this car when it hits the milestone of 350,000 and 400,000 kilometers.
In order to achieve milestones like I recently have when it comes to years in ministry, or still cheering for the Leafs, requires perseverance, and endurance. When I think of this in terms of our Prius it also requires taking proper care of it too in order to achieve this milestone. Just as we may achieve certain milestones in areas of our life due to perseverance, endurance, and taking proper care along the way, the same qualities are needed when it comes to hitting certain milestones with respect to our faith. One of the things the writer of Hebrews was trying to encourage believers to do was to achieve certain milestones and longevity when it came to maintaining their faith in spite of various challenges life may have brought before them. The author commended these believers for persevering and enduring early on in their faith as seen here:
๐๐ก๐ข๐ง๐ค ๐๐๐๐ค ๐จ๐ง ๐ญ๐ก๐จ๐ฌ๐ ๐๐๐ซ๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐๐๐ฒ๐ฌ ๐ฐ๐ก๐๐ง ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐๐ข๐ซ๐ฌ๐ญ ๐ฅ๐๐๐ซ๐ง๐๐ ๐๐๐จ๐ฎ๐ญ ๐๐ก๐ซ๐ข๐ฌ๐ญ. ๐๐๐ฆ๐๐ฆ๐๐๐ซ ๐ก๐จ๐ฐ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐ซ๐๐ฆ๐๐ข๐ง๐๐ ๐๐๐ข๐ญ๐ก๐๐ฎ๐ฅ ๐๐ฏ๐๐ง ๐ญ๐ก๐จ๐ฎ๐ ๐ก ๐ข๐ญ ๐ฆ๐๐๐ง๐ญ ๐ญ๐๐ซ๐ซ๐ข๐๐ฅ๐ ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐๐๐๐ซ๐ข๐ง๐ . (๐๐๐๐ซ๐๐ฐ๐ฌ ๐๐:๐๐)
While these believers endured early into their journey of faith of following Jesus, the author realized it might be hard for these followers to maintain this kind of grip on faith as more challenges came forth. So, the author offered this advice to them:
๐๐จ ๐๐จ ๐ง๐จ๐ญ ๐ญ๐ก๐ซ๐จ๐ฐ ๐๐ฐ๐๐ฒ ๐ญ๐ก๐ข๐ฌ ๐๐จ๐ง๐๐ข๐๐๐ง๐ญ ๐ญ๐ซ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ญ ๐ข๐ง ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐จ๐ซ๐. ๐๐๐ฆ๐๐ฆ๐๐๐ซ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ ๐ซ๐๐๐ญ ๐ซ๐๐ฐ๐๐ซ๐ ๐ข๐ญ ๐๐ซ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ฌ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ! ๐๐๐ญ๐ข๐๐ง๐ญ ๐๐ง๐๐ฎ๐ซ๐๐ง๐๐ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ฐ๐ก๐๐ญ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐ง๐๐๐ ๐ง๐จ๐ฐ, ๐ฌ๐จ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ญ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐ฐ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐๐จ๐ง๐ญ๐ข๐ง๐ฎ๐ ๐ญ๐จ ๐๐จ ๐๐จ๐โ๐ฌ ๐ฐ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฅ. ๐๐ก๐๐ง ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ ๐ฐ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐ซ๐๐๐๐ข๐ฏ๐ ๐๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐ญ๐ก๐๐ญ ๐๐ ๐ก๐๐ฌ ๐ฉ๐ซ๐จ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฌ๐๐. (๐๐๐๐ซ๐๐ฐ๐ฌ ๐๐:๐๐-๐๐)
This writer was encouraging these believers to be patient in the midst of existing and new challenges they might face by remaining steadfast when it came to their faith and trusting in the Lord. By offering this advice, the author hoped these believers would achieve the milestone of maintaining a strong faith until they were called home by the Lord. Just as these believers needed encouragement to persevere and endure by maintaining a confident and steadfast trust in the Lord, we need this same reminder in the face of our challenges currently. Because Christโs Spirit lives within us, we can have this kind of endurance. As we continue to trust in Him through lifeโs struggles, we will come to see ๐ฏ๐๐ ๐๐ง๐๐จ๐๐ฃ๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐
๐๐๐๐ more clearly in our lives.
Just as my Prius needed proper care all these years to still be enduring, may taking proper care of our faith and trust in the Lord help us to keep enduring through the pleasant and not so pleasant roads we are travelling in life.
If the Leafs ever achieve the milestone of winning another Stanley Cup, I hope my Prius is still on the road. It would be fitting to drive this milestone in my life to celebrate another one.
๐๐ฎ๐ฎ๐น ๐ผ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฎ ๐ช๐ท๐ญ ๐๐ธ๐ญ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ผ๐ผ
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