They tell a story about Bear Bryant, the legendary football coach at the University of Alabama. He gathered the assistant coaches in his office one day, because he was about to send them out recruiting prospective high school athletes. He said, “Now boys, you are going to go out there and find a young man, who when he gets knocked down, stays down. We do not want that young man playing for the Crimson Tide. But you are also going to find a boy who when he gets knocked down, gets right back up.”
An assistant coach interrupted the head coach, saying, “That’s the boy we want right?” Bear Bryant answered, “No, I want you to find the boy who keeps knocking those boys down.”

Well, it would be nice if life worked that way, but the truth of the matter is: Everybody gets knocked down. Whatever our struggle is, whatever makeover we need, we will get knocked down. The people who are successful, the people who experience lasting life-change are those who refuse to stay down.
A life makeover will require a courageous refusal to quit. Hebrews 10:36 says, “You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised.”

Hebrews 12:1-3 reads, “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.”

We have all said, or heard others say that they are going to change, only to remain the same. Anybody can sprint the first 50 yards of a marathon, but when we tire, or trip and fall, how many of us are going to get up and keep going?

-David Owens

Leave a Reply