A 2016

The Enterprise Begun

With most things, getting started is the hardest part. A start-up effort may not have a lot of resources already in place to draw on. The entrepreneur may not have a company of people who share the vision, provide assistance, and offer encouragement. The expertise of others may not be available to supply the emotional energy and strength of character the undertaking requires. Besides, any backlash from vested interests gets directed at people who launch out in a new and different way.

In one way or another, factors worked against the pioneer of salvation (Hebrews 2:10; cp. 12:2). The venture cost him a normal way of making a living; he had nowhere to live (9:38). He felt the rejection of people that a person would normally look to for encouragement—religious leaders, family members (John 7:1-9). His closest friends scattered when significant danger came. His normal length of life was cut in half by the opponents of his endeavor.

At this table we acknowledge together the high cost of establishing what we now enjoy, and pledge our support in carrying forward what took such devotion to bring into being.