Never give up

With the New Year upon us, the idea of change and doing new things can feel like a weight around the neck, especially if you’re a person who gets off track and has trouble following through on resolutions. That’s why staying on today’s path is a good place to begin. After all, your journey of this moment will come with enough choices of its own. So let’s not get sidelined with the future. Let’s live in the present. Besides, we all have a road to travel, and it’s like deciding which way to kick the football for some of us. We can’t decide if we’re playing offense or defense. Or if we’re running with the ball or making a pass.

I believe we can all play the game of life when we trust God as our coach, although it does require that we kick that life-football again and again. It’s like celebrating New Year’s Day, every day. We must suit up with Christ. Lace-up our cleats. And get ourselves in shape to win at finding our strength in the Lord.

And yes, each of us must decide to play or not. The addict must decide. The alcoholic. The one who is alone. The one who is broken. The one who is lost. The one on the sideline. The one with the overachieving personality. The one who wishes for a nap. Each person must decide if circumstance or pain or hard days will control them. In other words, will we seek Jesus for our hope? We will purpose to give Him honor in our walk?

For me, it begins with obeying Christ as I trust His handbook of plays on my heart and my life. If Christ is the One behind the laces on my football shoes, then I can charge past the regret and worry, past the sorrow and the sin. I can be more than a conqueror in Christ.

In Romans 8:37-39, we read, “No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

That’s why I’m sharing this poem with you, to remind you to conquer your day. I don’t know its author, but this is for anyone thinking of walking off the field of life, for anyone who wants to quit.

Here it is: “When things go wrong, as they sometimes will. When the road you’re trudging seems all uphill. When the funds are low and the debts are high. And you want to smile, but you have to sigh. When care is pressing you down a bit, Rest, if you must, but don’t you quit. Life is queer with its twists and turns. As every one of us sometimes learns. And many a failure turns about. When he might have won had he stuck it out; Don’t give up though the pace seems slow—You may succeed with another blow. Often the goal is nearer than, It seems to a faint and faltering man. Often the struggler has given up. When he might have captured the victor’s cup. And he learned too late when the night slipped down. How close he was to the golden crown. Success is failure turned inside out—the silver tint of the clouds of doubt. And you never can tell how close you are. It may be near when it seems so far. So stick to the fight when you’re hardest hit—it’s when things seem worst that you must not quit.”

As I think about football (which I never watch) and how it relates to life, I’m reminded of a cartoon of Lucy holding the football on the ground for Charlie Brown to kick, with the caption, “Never, ever give up.” That’s my New Year’s caption for you, “Never, never, never give up. Kick. Punt. Run. Suit up.” But don’t let Lucy hold your football—she’s been known to move it right before Charlie Brown kicks it, and this does cause a person to fall more than he or she should.