Our goal
October 3, 2011 (Monday)
Cowboy Stadium was a sad place on Saturday for Baylor and on Sunday for the Dallas Cowboys. Both teams lost but both had led until the games were nearly over. The winning teams came from behind as time ran out. Exhilaration for the winners; frustration and despair for the losers.
The results of the games brought to mind something Jesus said: “.. the one who endures to the end will be saved” (Matthew 24:13 NLB).
I think also of the words of the apostle Paul: “Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win” (1 Corinthians 9:24 NASB).
The author of the Book of Hebrews wrote that Jesus has set the example for each of us: “.. start running—and never quit! No extra spiritual fat, no parasitic sins. Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we’re in. Study how he did it. Because he never lost sight of where he was headed—that exhilarating finish in and with God—he could put up with anything along the way: Cross, shame, whatever. And now he’s there, in the place of honor, right alongside God. When you find yourselves flagging in your faith, go over that story again, item by item, that long litany of hostility he plowed through. That will shoot adrenaline into your souls! (Hebrews 12:1-2 MSG).
We are going to experience some defeats in this game of life. When we do, we need to remember the lyrics of Dorothy Fields: “Nothing’s impossible I have found, for when my chin is on the ground, I pick myself up, dust myself off, start all over again.” We can do this in the spirit of Philippians 4:13, “I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me.” When you feel like you’re losing in this “game of life,” in the words of an old poem, “rest if you must, but don’t you quit.”