Press On!

Today I read where a 94-year-old received her Masters degree. What a story of perseverance! What a message for us all!

Paul said, "Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus." (Phil. 3:12 - 14, NKJV) The NIV says "I press on..."

Just as Phyllis Turner pressed on for her Masters, we must press on towards Christ, ever growing, always reaching higher and higher. It will seem like many things set themselves against us, preventing us from reaching our goal. What we often see as a hindrance, though, is God's training room to make us fit for the next level.

You can bet Phyllis Turner did not waltz through the program. You can be assured she worked hard for what she got. She stretched until she finally reached her prize.

We, too, must stretch. We will not reach the prize of the upward calling, the price of Christ-likeness easily. We will have days we are discouraged. We will have days we don't believe we can do. But we can; we will. We must press on!