Several years ago, I was watching the Kansas City Chiefs play the Oakland Raiders. Being raised in the Kansas City area and being a personal friend of Lamar Hunt, the founder of the Chiefs, I've always enjoyed watching the Chiefs play. For many years, Loretta and I would go to Arrowhead Stadium and watch the football game from the owner's suite while having lunch.

However, that day the Chiefs lost to the Raiders. Even though they were winning with less than two minutes to play, they somehow managed to squeak out a loss. As the clock ticked down to the final seconds and the Raiders were declared the victors, the words of Jesus rang in my head. Jesus said, "He who endures to the end will be saved" (Mark 13:13).

The Chiefs played a good game that day. They were ahead. They had more points on the scoreboard than their opponents. The problem was they didn't endure to the end. It appeared that they quit playing before the game was over. They lost. And to the victor go the spoils.

Life is much the same way. As Christians, we are in a race. We have been energized by the power of the Holy Spirit and given all of the tools for victory (the Word, the name of Jesus, the blood, and the weapons of our warfare mentioned in Ephesians 6, among others). In the Word of God we have the promises of God. He tells us that we are strong. In fact, the Word tells us that the energizing power inside of us is greater than any power the opponent may have (1 John 4:4). We are told that any weapon the enemy uses, any method he may try will fail because there is no weapon the enemy has that can prosper against us (Is. 54:17).

We are told that if we love with the love of God, that this love will cover any fault or inadequacy that may develop within us (1 Pet. 4:8). We are told that if we will walk in joy, that it will be our strength (Neh. 8:10) and when the enemy yells at us and tells us that it's impossible for us to win, we know that if we only will believe that all things are possible, we will see the manifested glory of God, which no one can defeat (Mark 9:23).

The key to all of this power, however, is simply this – we must continue and not quit. We must run and not grow weary of doing good. If we continue, we will know the truth and nothing can stop us. The only thing that stands in the way of our victory is if we believe the lie of the enemy that we cannot win and we make the wrong decision and quit.

We have placed before us life and death. The choice is ours and God tells us to choose life (Deut. 30:19). Another way of saying this would be that He has placed before us winning and losing and the only way we lose is if we decide to quit.

So be encouraged today. No one can make you lose. No one can steal your victory. No one can destroy you – as long as you make the choice to continue the race.

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