Never Give Up

“Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.”—Galatians 6:9

Please don’t send me any more emails about how Madalyn Murray O’Hair is petitioning the FCC to get Christians off the radio. Since 1974 this rumor continues to circulate that there is a Bill before Congress (a non-existent House Bill #2493) to remove all Christian programming from our airwaves. It comes around every six months or so and makes Christians look silly and stupid because they sign a petition that is a hoax. Madalyn Murray O’Hair was murdered several years ago and, trust me, is no longer petitioning Congress.

A more challenging question might be whether Bible reading and prayer were taken from us or did we give them up? I am beginning to believe that the government and O’Hair did not take Bible reading and prayer from our culture, but we, who call ourselves Christians, gave it up. My concern is not whether Bible reading is done in public schools, but do Christians and Christian families read the Bible and pray at home.

On Thursday, May 5 I participated in the Celebrate One unity service and National Day of Prayer observance in downtown Johnstown. As far as I know, this was the only National Day of Prayer observance in Cambria County. The attendance was up from last year, probably the highest attendance since the first Celebrate One service held seven years ago. But the Pasquerilla Convention Center was still far from full. I am certain most Christians in the Johnstown area were not at home reading their Bibles and praying together with their families.

The Celebrate One service opened with a clip from the movie, “Sheffey.” In the clip, Robert Sheffey, a Methodist preacher, farmer, and evangelist from the late 1800s, says, “And someday when the world tells us we can no longer have our religion, except where they say, and God is driven from our schools and our government and our homes, then God’s people can look back and know that our religion was not taken from us.  It was given up, handed over, bit by bit until there was nothing left.”

Robert Sheffey over a hundred years ago foresaw exactly what is taking place in our country today. Christians are giving back our freedoms and the Christian privileges to worship, pray, and read God’s Word by neglect. If you don’t exercise a muscle, it will atrophy, wither and die. If we don’t exercise our rights as Americans and our privileges and duties as Christians, our Christian culture and nation will wither and die.

Many persons attribute the saying, “Never, never give up” to Sir Winston Churchill. Actually, Churchill said, “Never give in.” The Bible urges us to “not become weary in doing good.” Galatians 6:9 further states that we will reap a harvest if, “we do not give up.” The King James Version beautifully puts it, “And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.”

Let us not grow weary in well doing. Let us put Jesus Christ back into the center our lives. Let’s begin in our homes, our churches, and our nation. We shall reap, if we don’t give up. Next year, May 3, if Jesus does not return before then, I will join fellow Christians in Johnstown to praise Our Lord and pray for our nation and city. I hope you will join me. Until then, Christians, let’s not give up. The time of harvest is still around us.