Go the Distance (Proverbs 24:16)
Exhibit AKey Evidence
- The scene: Rocky (1976). āAll I wanna do is go the distance.ā
- The night before the fight, Rocky admits he probably canāt win. He isnāt chasing the title. He just wants to be standing when the final bell rings.
- In the 14th round he goes down hard, and everybody expects him to stay there. He grabs the ropes and gets up anyway.
- Scripture says the righteous donāt live a life without falls: āFor a righteous man may fall seven times and rise again, but the wicked shall fall by calamityā (Proverbs 24:16).
- The difference isnāt that we never go down. The difference is the One who lifts us up (Psalm 37:24; Micah 7:8).
- Run your race with endurance (Hebrews 12:1). Get back up.
Exhibit BFrom the Word
“For a righteous man may fall seven times And rise again, But the wicked shall fall by calamity.”
“Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down; For the LORD upholds him with His hand.”
“Do not rejoice over me, my enemy; When I fall, I will arise; When I sit in darkness, The LORD will be a light to me.”
“Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.”
Clip: Rocky (1976), dir. John G. Avildsen. Used for commentary.
ClassifiedFull Briefing
"All I wanna do is go the distance." š„
The night before the fight, Rocky admits he probably can't win. He isn't chasing the title. He just wants to be standing when the final bell rings. Then in the 14th round he goes down hard, and everybody expects him to stay there. He grabs the ropes and gets up anyway.
Scripture says the righteous don't live a life without falls: "For a righteous man may fall seven times and rise again, but the wicked shall fall by calamity" (Proverbs 24:16, NKJV). The difference isn't that we never go down. The difference is the One who lifts us up (Psalm 37:24; Micah 7:8).
Run your race with endurance (Hebrews 12:1). Get back up.
š¬ Clip: Rocky (1976), dir. John G. Avildsen. Used for commentary.
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