Last week two-a-days started for most of the schools in Texas. Young men have come together to go through the efforts to get themselves in shape to be able to play four quarters of football. At this moment they all have a dream of winning their district and getting to the playoffs in November. Perhaps the teams close to us will be there. Maybe some of them will play in the biggest game of all, the state championship.

The most important thing for these young men now is that they do everything to strengthen their bodies so this can happen. This means they run, jump, run, lift, run, and then they run some more. Some of these young men will give up. They will determine its too much. The heat is too much, there’s too much running, it’s too early to get up, etc. But for those willing to put forth the effort it will pay off.

When I think of the Christian walk with God, I think of how hard it is sometimes. We have the world pulling at us and trying to get us to take part in the activities that oppose God. Sometimes they are made to look more appealing than the things God wants us to do. Then other times we have friends that want us to do evil. We want to be accepted by them and if we don’t take part in the wrongdoing then we will be rejected. The list goes on and on. But we must not give up or give in to the devil’s teaching. We must remain strong so we can live with God one day.

"But Doug," you may say, "I don’t have time to pray. I don’t have time to read the Bible. I don’t have time to serve others." You know, you don’t have to do those things. As a matter of fact, some people don’t do those things. The result is that they are weak spiritually. They have not had the training needed to be strong. So it has become easy to give up. Read the Parable of the Sower and see if that is not so (Luke 8).

But to the one who does these things, day after day, they will prosper. Yes, it will be hard. But we are striving for heaven, not a state playoff.