July 5, 2024 Devo

I always feel sad for the people who tend to give up too quickly. Those who give up too easily on their dreams. Those who give up too easily on others. Those who give up too easily on themselves. History is full of stories of people who only succeeded after failing many times. In fact, one of my favorite quotes is by the man who is arguably the best basketball player to ever play the game, Michael Jordan. Here’s what he said about failure. “I’ve missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. Twenty-six times I’ve been trusted to take the game-winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.”
Relentlessly hopeful, are you like that? Jesus is. In our passage today we find Jesus going right back to His home area where people struggled to understand and believe who He was. Why would He do that? He had a good response from the Samaritans. I’m sure there were lots of other places that He could have gone that would have readily received Him as well. Why go back to people who are hard-headed, hard-hearted, and difficult to convince? Simple, because of love. Jesus’ love wouldn’t let Him just throw in the towel on people He cared about. No matter how they acted before, He was relentlessly hopeful that He could at least reach some.
Camp on that thought today. Jesus just won’t quit. He won’t quit on YOU. No matter how many times you’ve rejected Him in the past. No matter how many times you’ve said, “Yes,” but then lived “No.” His love for you will cause Him to reach out again and again and again. And He’s the same way toward those you care about who are still rejecting Him. Trust me, His Hand is still reaching out to them. His Spirit is still speaking to them. He will nudge, woo, whisper, and touch…all the way to the end. The love that Christ has in His Heart for us and for them is a love that just never gives up. He’s a God who is relentlessly hopeful. That’s God’s Word for you today.