Never Give Up Because He Doesn't Give Up On You

   Have you ever gone on a mission and you were about to give up? One time my sister and I really wanted to see Avengers: Infinity War because we had not seen it yet. We decided to go on a hunt for the DVD at Red Boxes.
   We began our hunt with a lot of hope, even though we were hunting on a Saturday night (FYI don't go on a Red Box hunt for a movie that just came out on Red Box 1 week ago on a Saturday night). We searched in E Town first. We checked Giant and three Turkey Hills. The fourth Turkey Hill gave us hope because we saw that it was there. Unfortunately, it was on Blu-ray, which we did not have.
   My sister and I moved on to check two Turkey Hills in Mount Joy. One had it, but it was on Blu-ray again. At this point we had been searching for 30 minutes and checked 6 Red Boxes. Our hope was beginning to wane. But, I looked at my sister and I kept saying a quote from Star Wars: Rogue One, "rebellions are built on hope." My sister kept saying, "we are not rebelling." I laughed because I knew she would say that. We were both tired and both had thoughts about giving up. Then I decided we were not going to give up.
   Next we traveled to Columbia and checked two Turkey Hills there. Both of them had it... but it was on Blu-ray. At this point my sister and I were tired to the point where we were going crazy. However, we kept on saying the quote, "rebellions are built on hope." And, we kept encouraging each other. We had been searching for 1 hour and 15 minutes.

   We had one last chance to find this DVD and it was at the Sheetz in Marietta, which is probably the busiest place in Marietta. My sister and I got out of the car and checked the box. It had one last DVD. The DVD we had been searching for was there. We got it and protected it with our lives. It may have seemed like a crazy thing to do because no one would steal a Red Box DVD from two girls. But, we had worked hard to get that DVD. We never gave up hope and we were rewarded in the end.
   At this point you may be saying, "why does this story matter?" The answer is it really doesn't unless you think about this in a different way. Jesus came down to earth to die for our sins. He rebelled against the Pharisees and taught the true way to heaven. Jesus saw our sin and he could have just given up on us. But, he loved us so much that he couldn't give up on us. I'm sure that if we were in Jesus' position we would have given up on humans a long time ago because of how much we sin. Jesus didn't do that because each of us are precious to him. He loves us and protects us just like my sister and I protected that DVD. Jesus searches for us and calls out to us. He never gives up on us just like my sister and I didn't give up on getting the DVD.
   It seems like there is a pattern Jesus calls to us and we may get close to him but then we back slide. It's like when my sister and I got so close to having the DVD but it was just the Blu-ray version instead. In the end, we received what we were looking for because we didn't give up. We have to live our lives like we are running a race. No matter what obstacles come our way we have to keep pressing on. We cannot give up hope. Because, our rebellion against the world is built on hope.
   So, do you believe that Jesus is calling for you and loves you? Are you willing to continue to run the race and never give up hope?

   Hebrews 12:1, 1 Corinthians 9:24-27, 2 Timothy 1:9

   Image from here.