“It’s No Time To Quit”

“Illegitimum non carborundum” is a roughly Latin phrase that was first used  by British Intelligence in World War II. A bit irreverent, it essentially means “don’t let the bastards grind you down.” When things are going poorly and there’s a lot of stress, it’s a tension breaking quip that can perhaps bring a smile to your face. And no, you will not find it in scripture.

Scripture has other ways to help us deal with the tensions of daily life…with the tensions of reading the daily newspaper. It’s basically a call to keep perspective…to not take ourselves too seriously… to realize that “the battle belongs to the Lord”. (1Sam. 17:47) And because of all this, we should always have a smile on our face. Whatever we are doing, wherever we find ourselves, we should have hope and that hope should give us a certain lightheartedness, a certain joy, a certain cheerfulness.

Listen to some of these reminders from scripture. 

• “The sign of a good heart is a cheerful countenance.”(Sir. 13:25)
• “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, self control.” (Gal. 5:22-23)
•  “Each must do as already determined, without sadness or compulsion for god loves a cheerful giver.” (2Cor. 9:7)

If anyone should have a cheerful countenance it should be those who know the Lord. We have every reason to be happy. Our hope is not in this world, not in our bank account, not in our job or the success of our sports team, or even our health. Our hope is in our Lord and savior Jesus Christ and his promises to us.

So, “Illegitimum non carborundum”… don’t let the devil grind you down…don’t let the crummy news get you down. Smile, God loves you and has a great plan for your life and a MAGNIFICENT PLAN for our life in heaven one day. And that is very good news.