Philippians 4:13 “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”
Pete Rose was known as “Charlie Hustle.” He played major league baseball from 1963 until 1986. He played baseball with an aggressiveness and vigor any mother’s son can envy and with encouragement, strive to emulate. Pete played hard and he worked hard.
I’ve found there are two kinds of people. There are writers and there are readers. There are talkers and listeners; there are spectators and participants. There are those like Pete Rose that give it their “all” and then there are some that only do enough to make it look like they’re in the game.
In the movie “Top Gun,” the fighter pilot Maverick (Tom Cruise) was in a dog-fight with a Russian plane and the aircraft carrier captain yelled at him over the radio, “Get in the game, Maverick.”
If any person expects to be successful, achieve and acquire the American dream, he/she has to “get in the game.” To sit on the sidelines and watch takes no skill, no enthusiasm, no incentive and no motivation.
People use many excuses for failure. They range from family to ethnic origin, to race, to lack of opportunity. None of these are credible arguments in today’s America. Opportunities are all around us, all we have to do is be alert and seek them out. The “poor me” attitude doesn’t work for anyone in the twenty-first century.
Successful people have a few common characteristics. They don’t hang around lazy complainers. They take the initiative to seize the opportunities that do exist. Successful people set goals and work to make them happen. Notice in the Beatitudes in Matthew chapter five, Jesus did NOT say, “The lazy shall inherit the earth.”
People are transparent and reveal themselves with their conversation, their values and their priorities. When we go to church and hear a lesson or sermon about the preacher’s/teacher’s favorite basketball team or a vacation, that church is “stuck in the mud” concerning the promoting of the Gospel.
It has become so easy to fall into that social club status. The word “church” is a misnomer used to describe some organizations with a steeple. If the focus is a ballgame, a trip or the next potluck, someone has missed the point. It is easy to fall into that entertainment trap and Satan wins!
I have long believed, taught and tried to encourage others to acknowledge that perseverance and determination are two of the greatest traits a parent can instill in a child. Never give up, never quit and never succumb to the will of others that do not wish you well.
Many Christians promote the thought that when a door closes another door opens. While that may be true in some cases, at times we have to open that other door ourselves and occasionally it has to be opened with passion. Success or failure is a choice and success requires that old fashioned concept called work!
Genesis 39: 3-4 “When his master saw that the LORD was with him and that the LORD gave him success in everything he did, Joseph found favor in his eyes and became his attendant. Potiphar put him in charge of his household, and he entrusted to his care everything he owned.”
One of the most motivating and inspirational stories in the Bible is of Joseph (eleventh son of Jacob) being sold into slavery by his ten older (and jealous) brothers. Over the next twenty-two years in Egypt, Joseph by his perseverance, hard work and steadfast belief and trust in the God of Israel, became a Prince of Egypt, second only to the Pharaoh.
By Joseph’s resolute determination to make the best of a bad situation, he eventually saved the Hebrew people from extinction by moving Jacob, his brothers and the rest of the family to Egypt to avoid a famine. And we must recognize here, Joseph forgave his brothers for selling him into Egypt. He regarded it as God’s plan (Genesis 45: 5-7).
Sad to say, many in our population today fail to exhibit that propensity to survive and succeed as Joseph and Charlie Hustle. It would be difficult to place blame on these levels to indolence but we must begin in the home. Lethargic parents breed lethargic children.
The scriptures teach many beneficial and profitable lessons but at the top of the list is Proverbs 22: 6 “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.” Parents that totally depend on the public schools to teach their children everything are miserable failures at parenthood.
Proverbs 1:8-9 “Hear, my son, your father’s instruction, and forsake not your mother’s teaching, for they are a graceful garland for your head and pendants for your neck.” God’s Holy word not only presents admonitions for the parent but also for the children.
Calvin Coolidge said, “Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.”
The quality of relentless persistence must be instilled. It is not a trait that comes from heredity or out of the air or drinking water.
A question churches, denominations and individual Christians must ask is “Is our outreach reaching out?” Outreach means to reach the unchurched and unaware with the saving power of the Lord Jesus. The scriptures teach without doubt the only salvation is by Jesus Christ (John 14: 6, Acts 4: 12).
The Bible also tells us to “Preach this Gospel to all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit.” The teaching referred to is that eternal salvation is by a faith based belief that Christ Jesus was crucified for the remission of sin and resurrected.
This work and this teaching is not done by the slothful, pew-filler, on paper Christian or those out of touch with the teachings of the scriptures. It is done with zeal by the sincere believer-follower of the Lord Jesus.
We often hear said, “He sure is sincere.” It is obvious, sincerity can be dead wrong. Consider the actions of Adolph Hitler or the 9-11 terrorists. Sincerity must be focused in the right direction. The only right direction is the way described by God in the Holy Bible.
We must ask ourselves, “What is really important?” and “What can be done on this earth that will make a difference in a million years?” Do we really believe in eternal life?
Proverbs 16: 3 “Commit thy works to the Lord and thy plans shall be established.” It certainly appears Christians have lost sight of Biblical taught priorities. Are we really believer-followers of the Lord Jesus and His teachings?
If we allow “the world” as it exists today to dictate the workings and teachings of the church, we are setting a course to becoming a world of people having those characteristics set forth by Paul in 2 Timothy 3: 2. “This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.”
The really scary thought is, we may already be there!
Van Yandell is a retired Industrial Arts teacher, an ordained gospel evangelist and commissioned missionary, from Fredonia, Kentucky. A part of the Bible Connection series.