Never Give Up
Several years ago there was a brilliant scientist named Thomas Edison. He was known for creating helpful inventions that many people could use. One thing he wanted to invent very badly was a light bulb that could use electricity and last a long time. Other people had invented electric light bulbs, but many of them were very expensive or they did not burn for very long. Sometimes they would burn for only a few minutes or a few hours. When Thomas Edison started trying to find a filament (the substance inside of the bulb that would glow), he did not know what to use. He tried many, many different things like platinum, and even cotton. In fact, it is said that he tried over 10,000 different things. The story is told that someone asked him how it felt to fail so many times. And Edison said, “I have not failed 10,000 times. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” Finally, he succeeded in inventing a usable light bulb that would burn for hundreds of hours.
You see, Edison was determined to succeed, and he did not quit. As Christians, we should have the same type of determination. In Colossians 3:23 the Bible says: “And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men.” This verse explains that we should put our whole hearts into whatever we do. We should try our best at everything we do and never give up. If you are playing sports, you should give your best. If you are doing school work, you should try your hardest. If you are working on a project with the youth group at church, you should give it your all. If your parents want you to clean your room, you should clean it as if Jesus was the one who asked you to clean.
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When we look at the life of the apostle Paul, we see that he had many troubles and setbacks. The Jews beat him with 39 lashes from a whip five times (for a total of 195 lashes). Three times he was beaten with rods. Once he was stoned. He was shipwrecked three times, and many other rough things happened to him. But he never quit. He kept preaching and teaching the good news about Christ. We should have the same attitude as Thomas Edison and Paul by trying our best for God and never giving up.
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