It
is easy to go downhill. Anyone who rides a bike knows that. It is easy to go
zipping along on a flat road; that calls for very little effort. But going
uphill is another matter. Even a slight incline calls for more determination,
and taking on a steep grade calls for all the strength and resolution a person
has. But going downhill? Anyone can do
that. Many a cyclist, faced with a really steep hill, will simply turn around
and coast back the way he came. The reason, of course, is that he was not
really going anywhere in the first place. After all, he was just out for a
joyride.
Being
a believer, however, is no joyride. The psalmist was facing a stiff grade: “Many are my persecutors and mine enemies,”
he said. Everywhere he looked he saw unfriendly faces. The temptation was to
give up. “Yet I do not decline from Thy testimonies,” he added.
John
Phillips tells the following story. “As a boy I was brought up in a town that
was avidly devoted to soccer. It was the big game. On Saturday afternoons
thousands of people would flock to the stadium to see the weekly match. In
those days most people walked, took the occasional bus, or rode a bicycle. Very
few people had cars. When the match was over and the crowds poured out of the
stadium, the sidewalks would be jammed with people walking back toward
town. Anyone could have gone with
that crowd. A small person could have picked up his legs and been
carried along by the crowd, the people were so tightly packed. But try going against
it – that was different. To go against the crowd called for
determination. It was a struggle every single step.”
What to do:
✞ Be determined to follow the Lord. It will be an uphill struggle, but be determined to stay the course.
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