We went to watch our grandson wrestle for his high school this morning. Wrestling is a hard sport for me to watch. As each match progresses, I find myself bending and contorting myself along with the athletes, urging them to move in different ways. By the end of the match I am also tired, like I was the one who wrestled.
Wrestling is a short, but intense struggle against an opponent. The grimaces on these athletes’ faces tell the story of pain and determination. They give all that they have to win the battle.
I wonder if the apostle Paul had wrestling as a backdrop when he wrote: “Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or faint-hearted. In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.”
Jesus wrestled against sinners continually until He was finally crucified. Unlike the sport of wrestling, the struggle never paused or stopped. We also wrestle against sin and our struggle will not end this side of heaven. The only way that we can win our daily battle against sin is to trust in the one who has already won the struggle, Jesus Christ. Determination alone will not succeed. We are too weak and the fight is too long.
We need the power of God to overcome. We have to choose to trust Jesus every day, every moment, to work within us to give us victory over sin. He is undefeated and will never fail.
Reluctant Retiree 