day 783: Quitting

"Watch out, so that you do not lose the prize for which we have been working so hard. Be diligent so that you will receive your full reward."

I once heard that quitting was a permanent resolution to a temporary problem. I spend time with many executives who at different times and for different reasons consider quitting. We all do, right? There isn't any decision that we make that we won't at some point second guess or at least scratch our heads and wonder if we are on the right course or not? But, the decision to quit is a different decision. Quitting means that we are going to abandon the hard work, the money invested, and turn back on what we once said was important to achieve. We read about these decisions every day in the business sections of the news. Shedding a division, a product line, a competitive market, etc. are decisions that means that someone decided it was time to throw in the towel and go another direction. Quitting is not always the wrong decision, but as we enter into strategic directions, partnerships, hiring, and financial commitments, we have to be sure we have thought through each step as much as we can so that we don't start and then stop. I advise that we should always ask ourselves the question as to whether or not this is one of those things that would be better to never start than to start and stop. It's a good litmus test to be sure that starting and stopping doesn't do more damage than it should.

Our spiritual journey is one where each and every day we are faced with those things in our life that want to tempt and sway us from keeping our eyes on the prize. The promise that we are given is that if we don't quit, and we stay diligent that there is a "full reward" to be gained. We know as believers that the full reward is to live eternally in the presence of our Lord. In God's eyes, if we give up and quit, He hopes it to only be temporary as He takes us back each and every time. If we remain sincere in our journey, with our eyes on the prize of Him the rewards are beyond what we can fathom. I would also add that by not being a quitter that we are setting a model and living out the example of Jesus. As we know, He could have quit any time He wanted, but He didn't. When we persevere, and when we follow through, and when we stay focused, and when we don't look back, and when we progress with enthusiasm and hopefulness, others will see that something special in each of us. One never knows what and when that moment will come to explain to others why.

Reference: 2 John 1:8 (New Living Testament)