GOING
THE DISTANCE
Steve W. Reeves
Tami
and I celebrate a special anniversary this month. It hardly seems possible that
40 years have passed since our first date! It was actually a “double-date” with
our friends, Mark and Ronda and consisted of a movie followed by a visit to a
local ice cream shop. What was the movie? The very first “Rocky,” featuring
Sylvester Stallone. Whenever I hear the familiar theme music to the film I
still picture Rocky, “The Italian Stallion,” doing one armed pushups, pounding
away at a side of beef and running up the 72 stone steps (now known as the
“Rocky steps”) at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
Sylvester
Stallone’s real life has been compared to the fictional Rocky. He grew up with
a father who abused him physically and verbally. Attending several different
schools he struggled to fit in socially and lacked a sense of direction and
purpose in life. A vocational advisor at Drexel University suggested that he
become an elevator repairman based on his aptitude tests. Stallone wanted to
act but encountered one failure after another. After watching a boxing match
between the heavyweight champion Mohammed-Ali and unknown Chuck Wepner in which
Wepner displayed remarkable endurance, Stallone had an idea that led to the
first draft (89 pages) of the “Rocky” script. Against incredible odds and with
limited funds the story eventually made it to the silver screen and the rest,
as they say, is legend. Over forty years later Stallone is still making “Rocky”
sequels.
Whether
it is in the life of an athlete, an actor, a married couple or a Christian the
key to success is endurance. When some of Jesus’ disciples sought to turn back
He replied by saying, “No one, after putting his hand to the plow and looking
back, is fit for the kingdom of God” (Luke 9:57-62). In Paul’s letters he often
exhorted Christians to remain faithful in challenging situations. “Therefore,
my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of
the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord” (1 Corinthians
15:58). “Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap if
we do not grow weary” (Galatians 6:9).
Whenever
you feel like quitting in your job, your marriage or your faith remember the
story of the “washed up” boxer and the actor who brought him to life. “Going
the distance” will ultimately make you a real champion!
