Get into the water...
Strength does not come from giving up but from holding on to Christ.
Kim Linehan was a competitive swimmer in the late 70s and early 80s. She set the world record in the women's 1500-meter freestyle and was expected to win a gold medal at the 1980 Olympics in Moscow before the United States pulled out of competition. Although not an Olympic event for women. She was the former world record holder in the 400 meter free and was only .08 seconds off the record in the 800 meter freestyle.
According to her coach, Paul Bergen, the 18-year-old was the leading amateur woman distance swimmer in the world. Kim trained endlessly doing exercises and swimming seven to twelve miles a day. But even with all her training and physical preparation, she said the hardest part of her regimen was getting in the water.
The hardest part of her routine wasn’t the miles of endless swimming, rote exercises, or painful training. The hardest part of Kim Linehan’s routine was the beginning— getting into the water.
The beginning is often the hardest part for most people. Starting out on a diet is tough, the first day at the gym is painful, and the beginning of a new routine is difficult. But in order to reach the end goal, you have to persevere through the difficulties.
As a Christian the same thing is true. If you set spiritual goals for the new year, the hardest part will be in these first few “beginning” days. The devil will attack and it will seem as if you will never make it through. But don’t give up! You will never reach your goal if you give up within the first few days.
Look at Christ’s life on earth. When He was first beginning, the devil tempted Him in the desert. He was at the starting line of His earthly ministry and the devil was already fighting Him! “And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost returned from Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, Being forty days tempted of the devil. And in those days he did eat nothing: and when they were ended, he afterward hungered” (Luke 4:1–2).
If the devil would fight the very Son of God, you can be sure he will tempt you. The answer is not to give up or quit during difficulty, but to persevere. Strength does not come from giving up but from holding on to Christ.
The way to persevere through the temptation is to continue in God’s Word and in prayer every day. Start off your day with God and ask Him for the strength to resist the devil. Because as Paul said to the Philippians, “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me” (Philippians 4:13).
Source: DITW, January 1, 2009