Perseverance
We need to stick with it. Dieting one day a week won't help us lose weight. Working out occasionally won't give us strong, firm muscles. Good results require time and effort. We have to persevere, and the motivation for that perseverance has to be our love for God, not our "performance" in Christian life or ministry. Oswald Chambers reveals why the motivation for our steadfastness in spending time with God is so vital; from My Utmost for His Highest, Feb. 23:The mainspring of Paul's service is not love for men, but love for Jesus Christ. If we are devoted to the cause of humanity, we shall soon be crushed and brokenhearted, for we shall often meet with more ingratitude from men than we would from a dog; but if our motive is to love God, no ingratitude can hinder us from serving our fellow men.
Love is the key motivation for continuing in my regular time alone with God. One final illustration on this point (taken from Zondervan's Student Bible):
Brad Lauwers was in the locker room, showering after a grueling football workout, when he first noticed the lump. He bent down and fingered his ankle gently, cupping his hand around the swelling. He felt no pain or stiffness. Perhaps it's just some sort of fluid, he thought. It will disappear in a few days.But the swelling didn't disappear, and a month later Brad lay in a hospital bed awaiting amputation of his left leg. The lump turned out to be a malignant tumor that was sending runners out in several directions in Brad's foot. The next day, a surgeon removed Brad's leg just inches below the knee.
Of all the adjustments to his new life - including one-legged jokes, the awkward reactions of friends, and learning to walk on an artificial leg - Brad most feared the loss of athletics, his main love in life. He had been a standout on his high school basketball and football teams in Alaska, a sports-crazy state. His doctor, also an amputee (from a war injury), tried to be encouraging: "Remember, Brad, there's nothing you cannot do."
Four months later, Brad visited UCLA for a prosthetic leg fitting. Even before fully learning to walk on his artificial leg, he sought out a basketball backboard and began tossing up reverse layups. The designers had warned him against subjecting the leg to the jarring stops and turns of basketball and had vetoed football outright, suggesting he take up swimming or water-skiing instead. But Brad never gave up his dream of returning to his two favorite sports.
As he trained, his artificial limb rubbed his leg stump raw and covered it with blisters. Undaunted, he ran until the blisters hardened into calluses. Then he began working on jumps and pivots.
Incredibly, in August, less than one year after the amputation, Brad played his first game as a one-legged quarterback for Dimond High School. Some thought his appearance was a mere sentimental gesture. They were wrong: Brad ended the year leading the state in passing! He completed 58 percent of his passes and racked up 662 yards in seven games as a part-time quarterback on the state championship squad. After football season, he started on Dimond's basketball team. From there, he went on to major in physical education at Washington State University.
When asked about his exploits, Brad shrugs and mentions two factors in his extraordinary achievement: gritty determination and long hours of often painful training.
So understand, to be successful, you must persevere! "Train yourself to be godly. For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come..." I Timothy 4:7-8 (NIV)
Read Part I, Part II, Part IV, Part V, Part VI or Part VII.
