Maybe it’s my athletic background as a player and as a coach, but there is something in me that dislikes the word quit. Of course, at one time or another in our lives, we have all had to face that word in choices we have made. There will always be difficult circumstances in life—some so bad that it is hard to see an answer. It is at those moments that we are faced with the alternative of quitting. The world would make that choice easy, asking,“If you don’t like the way things are going, why don’t you just quit?” It applies to our marriages, our relationships, our jobs, and even to our faith.
At my first coaching job, I had a poster that made a difference in my life. It showed a football player at the end of a tough game—one his team was most certainly losing. He was dirty, tired, and sitting on the bench. His helmet was on the ground and his head was lowered, almost between his legs. He was whipped! The caption at the top of the poster read, “I quit!” At first glance it seemed like a terribly depressing scene. But as you looked closer, your eyes were drawn to the bottom right hand corner, and there could be found the message. In the corner was an empty cross and under it the words, “I didn’t!”
In our dark moments—those moments when we lose hope—we must remember that Jesus Christ never quit on us. When He was at His lowest, His love for us was greater than His temptation to stop. When we need a reason to keep on going—to not give up or quit—remember that the cross is empty. Jesus is not there any more. He is standing by us, ready to carry us, and He will never quit loving us. Now that’s a reason to keep on going!
