Press On

I am not a football fan.
I am interested in football if it is my hometown team that is playing.
However, the football game that is the culmination of the season is not that important to me.
Having two sons and a husband, I learned to be somewhat enthused.

That day was always the day for a Super Bowl party.
Often that party consisted of just our family when the children were little.
There was still enough noise, and groans, and cheers to fill the house.
I was usually in the kitchen preparing the food that could be eaten as they watched.

I had to keep up with things since my oldest son would try to see how much I knew.
I obviously knew the teams that were playing but had to sharpen my football trivia.
He would always find the one question I was not prepared to answer.
Most times, I think he was impressed with the little bit I did know.

The Super Bowl just happened and the winner was declared.
The winner came from behind when it looked as if they were going to lose.
If truth be told, I was actually hoping the other team would win.
There is something about the underdog, and also that the quarterback is from our area.

When the game ended and the comeback of the century happened, my husband sent a text.
It was a simple text that he sent to the family.
A lesson in never giving up. 34-28.
I thought of Winston Churchill.

There’s this famous story about Sir Winston Churchill, who near the end of his distinguished career was asked to return and speak at his old school, Harrow (where as a boy he’d almost flunked out)…The great day finally arrived, and after the school’s fanfare and acclamation Sir Winston stood to his feet, acknowledged the introduction, and gave the following address, which is quoted in full: “Young men, never give up. Never give up! Never give up!! Never, never, never-never-never-never!”

According to Bartlett’s Familiar Quotations, the speech was not delivered near the end of Churchill’s career (he died in 1965), but on October 29, 1941. And he wasn’t Sir Winston till 1953. And what he really said was, “Never give in, never give in, never, never, never, never—in nothing, great or small, large or petty—never give in except to convictions of honor and good sense.” In addition, this familiar speech was not 29 words long, but rather two pages. The famous quote was neither at the beginning nor the end, but hidden away in a long paragraph recounting Great Britain’s progress during the first 10 months of World War II. (preachingtoday.com, January 2003)

The speech that is always attributed to Churchill was actually much longer and more detailed.
I’m glad I know the true speech but I like the story of the first one.
Never give up! Never give up!! Never, never, never-never-never-never!
That sounds like my husband’s text to me.

I am not saying that life is like a football game but there are some aspects that are similar.
Tenacity, determination, persistence, and doggedness are needed.
My list of words seems like reading a Thesaurus but that is what it takes.
Pressing on; pressing on when its hard and when it looks like everything is against you.

Pressing on is necessary in the life lived for the Lord.
Swimming upstream would sometimes be easier.
Living for the Lord takes courage and strength.
Like any good athlete, it takes practice with a lot of bumps and bruises along the way.

Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 3:12-14)

Pressing on is not just for physical training.
Pressing on is for spiritual training as well.
Pressing on is arduous, strenuous, tedious, and exhausting.
Pressing on is the only way to get the prize.

We press on in one direction.
Our direction is heavenward, in Christ Jesus.
If we are in Christ, we have the Holy Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.
That prize, our goal, which is eternity in heaven has yet to be achieved.

We wait.
We continue to practice our spiritual walk as we journey through this life.
We fall and then we get up again with the Lord’s help.
We struggle but know that we have victory in Him.

Never give up! Never give up!! Never, never, never-never-never-never!
Press on.
Continue to press on.
Always press on.

The prize is waiting.