Eye of the Tiger: Philippians 3:16
Philippians 3:16: however, let’s keep living by that same standard to which we have attained.
In my opinion, some of the best movies ever made were the Rocky movies. I’ve quoted them on more than one occasion in a blog or a sermon, and this one today will be no different.
In Rocky 3, Rocky Balboa is the heavyweight champion of the world. Things are going good for him. He’s got the girl, the money, the fame, and the championship. But something happens, he stopped pursuing, stopped driving toward greatness, and simply rested, got a bit cocky, and thought he could get by with minimal effort and what skills/talent he already had. Then came Clubber Lang, a determined, hungry, and angry man that wanted what Rocky had – and got it. He beat Rocky, won the belt, and Rocky slipped backwards because he lost his hunger…he didn’t have the “eye of the tiger”.
Paul, in this scripture is pretty much saying the same thing. Let’s keep living by the same standard to which we have attained. Keep pushing, keep being aggressive, keep pursuing Christ and Godly living.
As followers of Jesus, most of us have made progress in terms of spiritual growth and stability, but we must be careful that we do not allow that progress to become a lack of dedication of reaching the goal.
We want to continue to grow in our relationship with God. We want to continue the spiritual disciplines we have put into our lives, because when life happens (good, bad and everything in between) we can have victory and not allow our enemy to take away our progress.
Progress is the key word here. Paul says a few verses back (in Philippians 3:13-14) “Brothers, I do not count myself to have attained, but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead. I press on toward the goal of the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.”
Paul here is picturing himself as an athlete in a race. He’s putting forth all his strength and pressing on with determination and concentration to finish the course and win the prize. His aim to reach and fulfill the goal that Jesus has set for his life. The finish line? A fully devoted follower of Jesus.
We must refuse to rest on past accomplishments and successes that could allow us to be spiritually prideful or lazy, so we can have continual victory. It’s up to us.
· You can put into practice the Biblical knowledge you already have.
· You are responsible to apply to your life what God has already shown you.
· You are the one who presses on to higher levels and a deeper relationship with Jesus.
Get back the “eye of the tiger” (who has that song in their head?) – When Rocky lost the belt, a friend of his (Apollo Creed) said that once he lost “his edge” he had to go back to basics, back to the beginning, put in the work, to get it back. He did just that and won back the belt. If you feel like you have “lost your edge” spiritually – just get back to basics, get back into spiritual practices, and press on toward the prize by living by that same standard to which we have attained.
Comments