"Quitting
I read this verse the other day: I Corinthians 16:13, 'Quit you like men.' But sometimes I wonder if we shouldn't reverse that and say, 'Men [people] like you quit!' Quit you like men literally means, 'Be a man! Act like a grown up!' The meaning of 'quit' in the second quote doesn't need definition. We all understand it too well. A person's decision to walk in obedience to the Lord only tests their love. Their availability to continue is what tests their character. The Lord faithfully calls us to a holy 'hang-in-there-ism.' You have started well. Don't quit now!
I've heard people say, when joining the church, 'I almost quit before I even started.' They'd say, 'But the Lord stretched me and made me a bigger person.' They would refer to the fact that our worship practices were a bit different and required something new of them - what with audible praise, up-raised hands and personal times of greeting - and if that doesn't do it, just try to keep up with learning new songs. But when they discovered it in the Word, they decided not to quit.
Another reason people said they 'nearly quit' [things], is weariness. Romans 12 says, 'Present your body as a living sacrifice.' Typically, when we hear the word 'sacrifice' [in the Bible], we think of a priest slitting [a] throat. But the Word says 'a living sacrifce.' If i'll surrender or present myself to Him, He'll be responsible to keep me alive. Their particular weariness developed when they carried too much and refused to give their excess baggage to Him. But, again, they made a choice based on the Word of God (Isaiah 46:4), and they didn't quit.
We've learned, to some degree, lessons in both of the two previously mentioned areas. Let me mention a third reason we sometimes want to quit: learning to be 'dispensers' of the wealth we have received in Jesus. Do you ever feel stretched on this point? ...the need to be giving as never before, and asking the Lord to place us as people who receive from Him. Well, the stretch is upward; the Lord is calling us to continue growing up, to be people of faith. 'Quit you like men.' Agree with me, will you? I can't quit now!
I'm committed to the Lord's way, even though he keeps stretching me.
Growing,
Ron Mehl"