Galatians 6:9 And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.
William Wilberforce led a campaign against the British Parliament to abolish slavery in the late 1700's and early 1800's. During the course of his intense efforts, Wilberforce came to a desperate place of discouragement, feeling he had absolutely no more strength to continue. In this condition, he was about to give up, when his elderly friend, John Wesley, lying on his deathbed, was informed of his friend William's distress. Wesley requested pen and paper, and with a quivering hand, wrote these words,
"Unless God has raised you up for this very thing, you will be worn out by the opposition of men and devils. But if God be for you, who can be against you? Are all of them stronger than God? Oh be not weary of well-doing! Go on, in the name of God and in the power of his might, till even American slavery shall vanish away before it."
John Wesley died six days later, but William Wilberforce fought for forty-five more years, and in 1833, three days before his own death, witnessed the abolition of slavery in Britain.
Do not grow weary in well-doing, for we can still triumph! It's exactly when everything looks hopeless that our God has the opportunity to display His awesome power. Even the great men that changed history needed a word of encouragement now and then – so be encouraged, and be an encourager! You never know when you may enable another saint to continue pressing on, or how that may change the world!
Copyright 1999-2026 Worthy Devotions. This devotional was originally published on Worthy Devotions and was reproduced with permission.
How to display the above article within the Worthy Suite WordPress Plugin.
[worthy_plugins_devotion_single_body]The city of Laodicea was founded nearly three centuries before the birth of Christ. Built on a trade route, Laodicea was quite prosperous. The wealth of the city was legendary, as Jews who lived there sent 9 kilograms (20 lbs) of gold to the Temple in Jerusalem on a yearly basis according to historical records.
Laodicea was an idyllic city except for its lack of a water supply. It depended on water from an external source, the city of Hierapolis was located six miles to the north, the site of mineral hot springs which were used for medicinal purposes. These steaming hot waters were piped to Laodicea, arriving there… lukewarm, hence the metaphor in Yeshua’s warning to the Laodicean church.
Here in Israel we have an interesting geographical phenomenon – there are two landlocked seas. One is alive and one is dead. The sea full of life is the Kinneret, better known as the Sea of Galilee. The dead sea is…….you guessed it, the Dead Sea. Now the Kinneret is constantly emptying as it flows through the Jordan River valley…. into the Dead Sea. But the Dead Sea does not empty its water at all. Instead, the Dead Sea is continually shrinking, because the intense heat at this lowest place on Earth actually evaporates more water than is flowing in. Do you see a parable here?
One day a passerby saw a homeless man on the roadside. He stopped for a moment to hand him some loose change and casually said “God bless you, my friend”.
“I thank God,” said the homeless man, “I am never unhappy.”
The church at Laodicea received a stern warning in chapter 3 of John’s Revelation. We would do well to reflect on it.
The word “Laodicea” is a compound in the Greek; “Laos” which principally means “people”, and “dike”, defined as “principle or decision”. One rendering might read, “rule of the people”, or, in modern terms, “Democracy”. In the western world, we have an affection and even a deep commitment to Democracy. Yet this form of government, “rule of the people” is fatally flawed… because we are fatally flawed by our sin nature…
One of my passions is studying history, especially the American Civil War. Here is an amusing story about General Stonewall Jackson’s famous Valley Campaign. During the war, Jackson’s army found itself on one side of a river when it needed to be on the other.
Yeshua (Jesus) said He is the “bread of life”. It was His body that was broken on our behalf as the substitutionary sacrifice for our sins. Notice that He never once called us to be the “bread of life”! He is the ONLY “Bread of Life” – the true bread who came down from Heaven which anyone may eat and not die. Whoever eats this bread will live forever. This bread is His flesh, given for the life of the world.