March 26, 2020: Strong to the Finish
Today is National Spinach Day–yum, right? Wait–you don’t like spinach? Seriously? You mean that there are some kids who don’t like spinach… ? I’ve never heard of such a thing…Okay, what is it about spinach that makes people say ew? It’s not that bad, okay, cooked spinach may take a while to get used to the texture, I’ll give you that one. But it is a super-food, filled with all kinds of things that are good for you. There was even a cartoon named Popeye, and when he needed to be strong, he’d eat a can of spinach and -wham!–he was like a superhero. One of his lines was that he was “strong to the finish, cause I eats my spinach”.
Be strong to the finish.
You can choose to be strong right now. You can choose to be optimistic right now. You can choose to be helpful right now. I’m not saying you won’t be sad, lonely, disappointed–all that. But there’s a big difference between having a moment of sadness, needing to talk, being scared versus complaining, whining–making everyone around you miserable.
God gives us what we need to be strong.
I don’t mean that I am exactly what God wants me to be. I have not yet reached that goal. But I continue trying to reach it and make it mine. That’s what Christ Jesus wants me to do. It is the reason he made me his. 13 Brothers and sisters, I know that I still have a long way to go. But there is one thing I do: I forget what is in the past and try as hard as I can to reach the goal before me. 14 I keep running hard toward the finish line to get the prize that is mine because God has called me through Christ Jesus to life up there in heaven.
Philippians 3:12-14 (ERV)
Dear Jesus, thank you for being near me and helping me right now. Give me strength–strength to do my best, have a good attitude, and to help others. Amen.
