Transcript
Biographers have written that Thomas Edison, the inventor of the light bulb, made over 900 light bulbs that didn’t work before he finally made one that did. 900 times he went to all the trouble of making a light bulb. Plugging it in, flipping the switch and watching while nothing happened. People must have thought he was nuts, but he kept on trying. According to Edison, every time he made a light bulb that didn’t work, he merely found one more way not to make a light bulb. And eventually by the process of elimination, he made a light bulb that produced light. As a result, he is known as one of the greatest inventors of all time. Most of us don’t realize how many failures successful people endure before they achieve their purposes. We only hear about the one time they succeed. What made Edison great, was his commitment to making a light bulb. He didn’t let his failures discourage him. He hung in there, and he kept trying, even though he kept goofing up. So it is with the Christian life. Most Christians we look up to fail many times before arriving where they are today. The apostle Paul admitted as much in Romans 7. I mess up all the time, he moaned. The things I want to do, I don’t do and vice versa. But Paul kept on running the race, striving to reach his goal to reach the finish line. He never gave up. That’s commitment. Being committed doesn’t mean you are successful all the time. It means you hang in there, you keep on making mistakes. And like Edison, you learn from your mistakes one more way not to live a Christian life. Hang in there because God is spurring you on to the finish line. God bless you. Captain Ken Chapman.