I have a friend who went on a bike ride over the weekend.  She rode 30 plus miles…on her bike!  She calls it exhilarating.  I call it an exercise in insanity…I mean not to her face or anything.

Actually, I think it is incredible.  It’s one of the things that I admire about her.  But, as if 30 plus miles isn’t enough, she was telling me about all of the obstacles she ran into.  For one thing, her bike got stuck in the highest gear.  This happened just a few miles into the journey.  The wind was with her at first, but then she had to turn against the wind…with the bike stuck in its highest gear.

My question was, “You quit, right?”

Her answer was, “No way!”

She went on to tell me that if she had quit, she wouldn’t have been able to say she did it!

James 1:4 says, “Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”

I think this means we have to keep pedaling even when we’re stuck in high gear.  Even when the wind is against us.  Even when (as in my case) we just don’t wanna’ even get on the bike!

Perseverance.  Insistence.  Resolve.  Determination.

Sometimes it just doesn’t seem worth it.
Why keep trying only to be knocked down again?  Why keep enduring only to find out it’s just plain tiring?  What’s the point?

The point is this; we persevere so that we can be mature and complete and not lacking anything.

Wholeness.  Completeness.  Righteousness.

Fully the person God wants us to be.  THIS is why we endure.  This is why we don’t quit when the gears get stuck and the winds start to blow in our faces, threatening to throw us off course.  We endure because when we do,

Verse 12 says, “Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him.”

I have my dear friend to keep reminding me of this by the example she sets (not just on her bicycle).

We can do this thing.  We can persevere.  The end result is worth the ride!