by ‘TIS THE SEASON to start watching holiday movies. One of our girls’ favorites is “A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving.” Charlie Brown was a good ‘ole soul who could not catch a break, he was nothing less than a lovable loser. Charles Schulz told why children root for him, “We all know what it’s like to lose, but Charlie Brown keeps losing outrageously.”
Charlie Brown could never kick that football because Lucy would always pull away at the last second. He would comically fly through the air, landing flat on his back, with a loud “AAAUGH!” He was fooled by Lucy, not once, not twice, but bamboozled over and over again. As foolish as he appears, he exemplifies a positive character trait — he never quit. He kept pressing forward, driven by the thought, “What if Lucy doesn’t move the ball this time?”
Charlie Brown was persistent in the face of continued failure. Is this not the same as a believer trying to persuade our friends and relatives to trust in Christ? Over and again, we face continued failure. We can learn from Charlie by keeping the thought, “What if they listen this time, and trust in Christ?”
Paul exemplified persistence to young Timothy. He taught in 2 Timothy 4:5 to not allow the things of this life and our afflictions to stop us from our ministry. Paul said, “Watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry.” We can do this if we learn discipline, endurance and patience:
- Discipline, while we “watch thou in all things”
- Endurance, while we “endure afflictions”
- Patience, while we “do the work of an evangelist”
‘TIS THE SEASON to be a persistent soulwinner! As we keep our eyes on Charlie Brown’s football that could be pulled away at any last second – on those we are witnessing to – we must never lose sight of their eternal destiny. Allow verses like Revelation 20:15 to be our driving force in the face of seeming continued failure — “And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire” (Revelation 20:15).
‘TIS THE SEASON to see God do what we cannot do, save souls with His Holy Word (Romans 10:17). Life is short, we cannot stop, we must be persistent and remain faithful to the very end. Our job is to persistently preach His word, God’s job is to save their souls.
