Everything we do, especially if we do it well, takes a lot of effort, practice and endurance. The road to success is full of potholes….let’s call them trials. A lot of important decisions are made along this road and wrong turns….we’ll call them errors….are inevitable. Trials and errors mark the roads we travel every day no matter what goal we are hoping to achieve. Rewards surely await us if only we can endure.
Some personal goals we might be able to accomplish on our own, but usually it takes a lot of effort and help from others in order to be successful. In most sports it takes a team to win the game….and the leader of the team gets the credit. In football, the glory goes to the quarterback, though the tight end made the best plays. In baseball one might have the most runs batted in…. but the “win” goes to the pitcher. This doesn’t sound fair, but it’s how the game is played. The rules in sports must be followed exactly, as if they were written in stone somewhere. Break the rules too many times and you’re out of the game for good.
Most of the above can also be applied to life in general. Learning even to walk and ride a bike takes a lot of effort, practice and endurance. To succeed in school, the effort we put into it will determine our success or failure….and usually set the course our life will follow later on. Education also is a team effort and having the best teachers are important….and they will be rewarded for the work you do. We might receive a few awards, diplomas and plaques, which are nice and mean a lot, but our best reward is the knowledge that we gave it our best effort. The best we can do is all anyone can expect from ourselves or from others.
Sometimes on the road of life, all the potholes and wrong turns leave us feeling defeated and unable to go on. At these times we need someone to call out to for help. Calling our parents is not always the best answer. A friend might be nice to turn to for advice, but they can’t solve the problem for us…. or always give us good advice. It’s best to have the help of someone higher….someone who knows us better than we know ourselves and always has our best interest at heart. The answer to all of life’s ups and downs is always GOD.
If we turn our life over to Jesus Christ, He will send His Holy Spirit to live in our heart and lead us to God, the Father….who gave us life in the first place. Salvation is a personal decision but still a team effort. To help us grow as Christians, it takes prayer from others, good teachers and training. It also takes effort, dedication, and endurance on our part….and God receives the glory….which is as it should be. Without Him there would be no life and no race to run.
As we travel the road to righteousness we won’t face the potholes….sin and temptations…alone, for God promises he will never leave us or forsake us. If we do take our eyes off Him and make a wrong turn or two, we will find Him patiently waiting right where we left Him once we find our way back. Sometimes, if we start to wander too far away, He will be there when we call and snatch us out of any snares the devil might try to trap us into.
In our world today, so many have wandered away from God, or simply haven’t met Him yet. Too many potholes and wrong turns have put our world into a perilous situation. It will take a tremendous team effort on the part of Christians everywhere in order to turn our country around and get our attention back to God. Hebrews 12:1 tells us to:…”lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us.” The prize for our endurance is everlasting life!
