Press On

Press On (By Justin Vance of Calvary Baptist Church)

Have you ever found yourself in one of those positions where you suddenly realize you bit off more than you can chew? I was 21 years old and arguably in the best shape of my life when my platoon decided we were going to challenge ourselves and climb the Manitou Incline in Colorado. 2744 steps and a 2000-foot increase in elevation may have sounded impressive to some, but not me. Entire families would hike it for fun, so how hard could it be?

Everything started fine. The first few steps were a little awkward, but nothing I couldn’t handle. I kept pushing on and up I went. About halfway to the top, I started feeling it. I may have underestimated this task.

30 minutes in, I began to question myself. “Why do people do this? Is this supposed to be fun? Kids are climbing this thing, so if they can do it, so can I, right?”

I pushed on. At this point, my legs were burning and my lungs were working overtime. Also, I couldn’t help but notice a line of people starting to form behind me. I was slowing them down. It was time to press forward. I gritted my teeth, took a breath and then took off as fast as I could to the top.

Harder and harder I pushed. The peak was almost there. Soon, I realized something was wrong. The “top” of this trail was not the top after all. As it turned out, I was only about halfway up and it was what they call a “bailout trail”. I was exhausted and yet only halfway.

It was about that point an “old guy”, who I found out later to be a retired sergeant major, was coming up the trail. As he passed me, he had the biggest grin on his face. He knew what happened. It was a long and slow hike the rest of the way up. I discovered that maybe I wasn’t as tough as I thought. Humility is a powerful thing.

In our Christian walk, we too can get a little overambitious sometimes. It's easy to get on fire for the Lord in church on Sunday. But by the time Friday gets here, you may be spiritually exhausted. It’s ok, some weeks are like that. But we must keep going.

Keep pressing toward the mark. Remember, our walk with the Lord is not about speed, but endurance. Keep on for the Lord.

Philippians 3:14

I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.