From The Pastor’s Pen – By Brian Horrobin
Good advice helps all of us and there’s a decent piece of it stenciled on the wall of the owner’s office at Power Fitness gym in downtown Wallaceburg.
Here is what it says: “Determination is doing what needs to be done even when you don’t feel like doing it.”
No doubt, this serves as a vital reminder to all members of the gym who desire to see lasting results from a commitment to regular workouts.
But it doesn’t stop there.
This superb adage applies to all areas of life.
Young parents feed and bathe their children and hold the throw up bowl in the midnight hours, whether they feel like it or not.
The paper boy delivers the paper in sunshine and in rain.
The grocery store clerk is called upon to smile and use courtesy to both friendly customers and unruly ones.
The nurse and personal service worker on the midnight shift provide support care in the first hour of their work and also at the end of a double shift.
These people all have a key ingredient working for them and it’s called determination.
An important catalyst in staying determined in any task is the ability to let go of what you left behind in order to pursue what lies ahead.
This is especially true in the spiritual life.
The apostle Paul put it this way in Philippians 3:12-14: “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 the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”
All goals take determination if we are to reach them.
Whether it’s good parenting, solid workmanship, or playoff champion, and yes, a mature follower of Jesus, the road to get there is uncompromised determination.
Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a bed to climb out of and a gym workout to get to!
