I'm Pressing On...

"I'm pressing on the upward way..." So begins the old hymn. It was with these words that yesterday's Sunday School lesson out of Ruth began. We were looking at verse nineteen which reads, "So they two went until they came to Bethlehem..." This was as far as we got, though my intention had been to examine the whole verse.

The lesson was entitled "Continuing Until." We looked at the fact that there are no incidentals in the Bible, this small sentence was included with just as much Divine intent as the passages on the death, burial and resurrection of Christ. So, it was important for us to consider why this verse was recorded.

The basic principle we drew was that of continuing until the end. Naomi and Ruth did not travel on a different path than the one they had set out on, the one which lead to Bethlehem. Also, they did not stop along the way and settle there, for example, stopping in Jericho or Jerusalem and living there. They both continued until they arrived at Bethlehem.

No matter what we face in these last days before Christ comes again, we must continue on. The Bible adjures us to press on, continue on, until the day of Christ Jesus. We are to be found often in church, often in the Bible, often in prayer. We are to be about the business of the Master and in fellowship one with another.

Whether we face the daily discouragement of a physical ailment, an emotional hindrance, or financial difficulties, we are to press on. Though we are persecuted or reviled for Christ's sake, we are to press on. Let us take example from these two widows on the road to Judah. They would not stay nor stray until the day they arrived at their destination...Bethlehem, the "house of bread."