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Staying At It

Christian author Jill Briscoe tells of going into a child’s room once and seeing a poster on the wall showing a little boy after a football match. At the top it said, “I quit.” And the little boy's body language was saying it all, sitting dejected and alone on the bench. But on the bottom of the poster was a cross and in little letters it said, “I didn’t.”

When I feel like quitting, I imagine Jesus saying, “Well, I didn’t.” One of the marks of a disciple of Jesus is that they don’t quit. As the devout Anglican writer Samuel Johnson once said, “Great works are performed not by strength but by perseverance.”

The scriptures say, “Be thou faithful unto death and I will give you a crown of life.” We are not told to be faithful until we are tired … or until we are retired … but until we are expired. So don’t quit.

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Paul W. Powell - www.PaulPowellLibrary.com

Today's Devotional

Major on the Basics

Knute Rockne was one of the greatest football coaches ever. In his 13 years at Notre Dame, his teams won 105 games, lost 12, and tied 5. He never had a secret practice. In fact, he sometimes put up a sign for visitors that said, “Secret practice. Come and bring your notebooks.”

On one occasion when an Army scout missed a train connection and didn’t get to the Notre Dame game he was to cover, Rockne obligingly sent him the plays he planned to use against the West Point men. He explained his actions by saying, “It isn’t the play that wins; it’s the execution.”

All great coaches agree: champions are made by majoring on the fundamentals – blocking and tackling. They execute well. Teams seldom win by trick plays or gimmicks.  

The same is true of life. Tricks and gimmicks will seldom get you to the top in any endeavor and can never keep you there. Major on the basics in all of life – work hard, honor God, be honest, kind and helpful to others, and go to church regularly.

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