Hold Fast… Look straight ahead… Give it all you got!
Power Truth:
“Holding fast the word of life, so that I may rejoice in the day of Christ that I have not run in vain or labored in vain.” (Philippians 2: 16).
That statement: “Holding fast the word of life”… And then what comes after that: “That I may rejoice in the day of Christ.” Those who hold fast end up rejoicing \0/
As you look at this picture, besides the human being,
what is the most important thing?
Yep, it’s the…football ?. And why is that? It’s because that’s what has to cross the goal line to score… to win the game.
That being so, the defense’s one objective is to keep that ball (and the person holding it) from moving forward, from crossing that goal line, or altogether to snatch that ball out of their possession.
That ball and runner in the game of football is very much like your faith and you in the Christian race.
We too are headed to a goal line. And our main objective is to keep the faith all the way through. Not only in the long run till we see Jesus face to face, but also in every designed season in our purposed journey in Christ.
We should all have a focused goal right now in Christ. A focused area to excel in, a promise to obtain from God, an area of ministry to discover or grow in. And just like in the game of football, we too have an opponent who wants to keep us from advancing, from going forward. Or altogether, seeks to snatch our faith from our heart. Because when faith goes, so does everything else.
This is what is so heroic of Paul’s statement as he is about to cross the goal line of his Christian life on the earth: “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith” (2 Timothy 4: 7).
Here we see that to stay in the race and to finish our race in Christ, we will have to hold fast to our gift of faith and we will have to fight the good fight. But one very important thing to remember: We fight from a position of victory. We already know that when we step out into the arena of life, we are going to win. So we fight and stand and go forward knowing that God has already granted the victory.
Two more observations from the photo.
Look at the man’s focus:
His eyes are set on the goal and
he’s running as fast as he can towards it.
And so,
“… let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross…” Hebrews 12: 1-2).
Every player on that offensive team has a cooperative spirit, they listen to their coach, they operate effectively in their role, and they give it all they got. Why? They all want to win!!!
Let’s follow the Head Coach, let’s have a cooperative spirit, lets operate in our God-given roles, lets hold tightly to our faith in Jesus, lets fix our eyes on the goal and run towards it all we got, and let’s WIN THIS THING!!!