Friday, January 16, 2004
Friday, January 16, 2004
Thus I make it my ambition to proclaim the good news, not where Christ has
already been named, so that I do not build on someone else's foundation, 21but as it is written,
"Those who have never been told of him shall see, and those who have never heard of him
shall understand."
(Romans 15.20-21
NRSV)
In 1858, a small, frail lad was born to a rich family in New York. Along with feeble eyesight, he suffered from asthma so bad that he sometimes couldn't blow out the bedside candle. Nevertheless, he became one of the most powerful men on earth.
At eleven or twelve years old, Theodore Roosevelt's father told him that building a good mind alone would not ensure success. He encouraged him to build himself a powerful new body to match his good mind. Theodore spent thousands of hours chinning himself, lifting weights, and rattling a punching bag. With that kind of determination and drive it's little wonder he rose like a rocket in the world of politics: Elected to the New York Legislature at twenty-three; candidate for mayor at twenty-eight; U.S. Civil Service Commissioner under two presidents; president of the police commission of New York; national hero as leader of the Rough Riders in the Spanish-American War at forty; then, in just three busy years, governor of New York, vice-president, and president. In 1905 Teddy Roosevelt received the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts in helping to end the Russo-Japanese War. Roosevelt, by the way, was five feet nine inches tall. He was not a big man physically. But he did prove once again the truth of the maxim that it's not the size of the dog in the fight that makes a difference but the size of the fight in the dog.
What ambitions has God given to you?
Lord Jesus, help me to be ambitious in sharing your gift of salvation. Amen.
