ENDURANCE!

Here it is—my annual cricket special! This time India is playing England, and beating her at her own game, I might add. And that means late nights for me watching these matches being played in India, 11½ hours ahead of Dallas. But it’s been worth the sleepless vigils. Especially last week.

You might remember the bombings in Mumbai a few weeks ago. England, touring in India, decided to return home for safety reasons (the incinerated Taj hotel, incidentally, had been one of their assigned dwellings). But, after getting assurances of heightened security and with a shift in Test match venues to the more sedate arena of Chennai, in South India, England returned. This display of England’s refusal to be browbeaten by terrorism was a victory for cricket, and, indeed, all sports. Hats off to those valiant souls! No losers in this game!

And history was created at Chennai as India chased down the fourth-highest total in Test cricket in the fourth and final innings. And the most famous son of Mumbai, Sachin Tendulkar, undoubtedly the best batsman in the game today, was the architect of this stunning win. Not only did he consummate the end with a boundary (for four runs), with that he also scored (yet another) century—his 41st in Test cricket! Tendulkar, later, dedicated that century to the people of Mumbai. Indeed, a couple of parents at Tendulkar’s daughter’s school were victims of the carnage. “What happened in Mumbai,” he said, “was extremely unfortunate …. It's a terrible loss and our hearts are with them. All I can say is that in whatever way we can contribute to make them feel better, we’ll make that effort.” And he did. Spectacularly! Fighting dehydration in the blistering Chennai sun, he scampered between wickets like a teenager. The next day, journalists were using words like “imperious,” “breathtaking,” “focused,”
“entrenched,” “fortitude,” etc. It was a task of massive proportions, accomplished by sheer dint of grit—endurance. Despite all odds, despite the weather, the immense total that needed to be made, this was a phenomenal feat of endurance—one of Tendulkar’s finest innings, one of India’s most special wins.

But we who are believers have a finer innings to play, an innings of our life, in a “game” that lasts an earthly lifetime, as we live for the Lord. And so the Bible calls us to …

… walk in a manner worthy of the Lord,
to please Him in all respects,
bearing fruit in every good work
and increasing in the knowledge of God;
strengthened with all power,
according to His glorious might,
for the attaining of all endurance ….
Colossians 1:10–11

And in God’s might, with God’s Spirit, by God’s grace, let us endure, despite all odds, despite the crumbling of worlds around us daily.

Consider it all joy, my brethren,
when you encounter various trials,
knowing that the testing of your faith
produces endurance.
And let endruance
have its perfect result,
so that you may be perfect and complete ….
James 1:2–4

The endurance, perseverance, patience to produce fruit for the Lord.

But the seed in the good soil,
these are the ones
who have heard the word
in an honest and good heart,
and hold it fast,
and bear fruit with endurance.
Luke 8:15

May no aggression from Satan, no attack from the world, no assault by our own sinful flesh affect our fruit-bearing for God’s glory. And … there is a reward.

We count those blessed who endured.
James 5:11

Let’s endure and be blessed. Hang in there!