I admit it. I love a good, inspirational, sports movie.
Baseball…The Natural
Football…Invincible
Basketball…Hoosiers
Hockey…Miracle
Track…Chariots of Fire
And boxing…well, I’ll take Cinderella Man over Rocky in an upset.
Recently, I found myself watching, once again, the rags to riches true story of boxer James J. Braddock, set in the Great Depression.
Braddock was an underdog, battling, against all odds, versus a seemingly invincible opponent.
“The skinny from the reporters at ringside is that Braddock won’t last two rounds.”
“Braddock has the look of a man trying to hold back an avalanche.”
Do you ever feel that way in your battle against sin in our lives?
We’re told to abstain from fleshly lusts (1 Peter 2:11), mortify the deeds of the body (Rom. 8:13), flee immorality (1 Cor. 6:18), put off the old man (Eph. 4:22), to buffet our bodies to bring them into subjection (1 Cor. 9:27), to cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh (2 Cor. 7:1) and lay aside all bitterness, anger, and malice (Eph. 4:31).
While most Christians know and believe these commands, if we are honest, at times, it feels like an unwinnable bout against the flesh.
So what are we to do?
The words below from 17th century Puritan Richard Alleine scream to us, like a boxing trainer in our corner, “Get up off the canvas, keep your gloves up and fight on!”
Lord, you know. I cannot rid myself of the iniquity in my heart, I cannot do the things that I would, I cannot pray as I would. I cannot listen as I would—nor think, nor speak, nor live as I would.
Wherever I go, sin goes with me. Where I stay, it stays. If I sit still, there it is with me. If I run from it, it follows me. I cannot rest, I cannot work, I cannot do anything—sin is always hounding me.
And yet, blessed be your name, this I do: I fight against it. I wrestle with it, though it so often takes me down. I do not trust it, though it flatters me. I do not love it, though it feeds me.
My heart is with you, Lord. I am following after you. I groan and I struggle in pain, waiting for your redemption. Until I die, I will not give up.
I will die fighting. I will die hoping. I will die praying.
Save me, Lord. Do not delay, my God. Amen.
