Week 30 - July 21 - 27, 2024: Patience Has It's Reward

This week’s daily readings:

July 21-27, 2024

This week’s devotional:

Patience Has Its Reward

by Nicholas Ambrose

Scripture:

The end of a matter is better than its beginning, and patience is better than pride.

— Ecclesiastes 7:8 (NIV)

Reflection:

We have all heard of the fable by Aesop concerning The Tortoise and the Hare. The hare challenges the tortoise to a race, believing he will easily be the victor. The tortoise humbly agrees to the race, and the runners take their mark at the starting line. The guns are off! The race has started and the hare takes an early and wide lead over the tortoise. 

As the race goes on, the hare nears the finish line and, in his pride, he takes a rest to have a drink. The hare’s pompous attitude will come back to bite him because, as his long break nears an end, he looks up to see that the tortoise has just crossed the finish line and therefore has won the race. 

This much-loved fable has been heard by many children and adults alike, and for good reason. It tells a much-needed lesson that patience has a greater reward than pride, and the end of something is better than the beginning – now echoed by King Solomon in this verse from Ecclesiastes. How often in our faith this turns out to be true! In many moments of my life, I have seen my pride and how it often makes me eat humble pie. On the other hand, when I have endured patiently for something, the reward and joy that came from it was worth the wait. And of course, we know the final stage of our faith – our reward in Heaven – will certainly be greater than when we first believed!

Prayer: 

Dear Heavenly Father, we know we can learn a lot from the tortoise and the hare fable and from Ecclesiastes. We so often need to be reminded of the virtue of patience and seeking humility in our walk with you, Lord. Help us also to remember the reward waiting for us at the end of this long journey toward you, that we may endure to the end. In Jesus Name, Amen.