THE TENACIOUS SPIRIT
"It ain't over till it's over." Yogi Berra
"Moreover, it is required of stewards that they be found faithful.” I Corinthians 4:2 ESV
Faithfulness requires a tenacious spirit. Are you willing to exhaust yourself in the pursuit of Jesus?
In June of 1980, my life changed forever . . . not because of the impending Reagan Revolution. It changed due to a seemingly insignificant choice that I made. I was 13, soon to be 14, just past the season of “pubatating,” which means my voice was changing and girls were no longer an annoyance. Yes, I was officially a man now . . . or at least at 13, I now had to use deodorant.
It was at the end of 8th grade that I learned what tenacity felt like. I decided to attend a church swim party. There I was, sitting on an aging church bus (a bus that we would never let our kids ride in today) when I glanced out the half-cracked church bus window and I saw my wife for the very first time. She was 12. This whole scenario is illegal, even in Arkansas. When I saw this blonde, blue-eyed beauty. I was smitten. I was flipped. I was in great “like" of this gal. The sad part of this story was she really did not care if I was even breathing. I was utterly convinced she was the one. So I spent the next 6 years stalking her. I made it my life's mission to convince her that I was God's will for her life.
I was relentless. I was persistent. I was unfazed by her lack of interest. I was faithful. Faithful to the task of a passionate pursuit. And on March 12th, 1988, she said, "I do.” Second only to salvation, she is God's greatest grace gift to me. I am madly in love with this woman, and I plan to chase her around Heaven for all of eternity.
The Greeks had a word for faithful; it is “pistueo.” Pistueo carries the idea of being so utterly convinced of something that you are willing to put all your weight on this object, pursuit, or person. Sometimes we just are not convinced that Jesus is all we need and we end up with misplaced weight. Someone once said, “A man who chases two rabbits will not catch either one.” Place all your weight on just Him and Him alone. Consider a relentless pursuit after Jesus this week. Consider the area in your life where you choose to be faithful to all that He has asked you to be. Jesus never claimed to be a way, a truth, and a life for you to chase. He is the way, the truth, and the life. Once you are convinced of this, then trust that His grace will empower a tenacious spirit in you as you chase after His righteousness.
At the end of most of our Sunday services, we close with the words, "Stay Faithful." And so this week, stay faithful! He is worth the chase.
