The Case For Perseverance

The Case for Perseverance

On Thursday Night Football late in the 2015 season, the undrafted free agent Case Keenum had the third-highest quarterback rating for a single game in all of pro football history, as he led the St. Louis Rams past the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Competing against rookie quarterback Jameis Winston, the number-one overall pick in the 2015 draft, Keenum outshined Winston with his crisp, accurate passes, going 14 of 17 for 234 yards and two touchdown passes.

Keenum’s journey to this place is a picture of resolve, commitment, endurance, and perseverance. He only had one offer to play Division 1 college football, and that was from Coach Art Briles at the University of Houston. When he graduated from college, Keenum was the most prolific passer in college football history, holding the record for the most touchdowns, yards, and total offense. Yet Keenum went undrafted to the pros. Signed to the practice squad by the Houston Texans, Keenum played whatever position the Texans needed on that squad to make a name for himself. In Houston, he went up and down on the depth chart, was cut, and was then picked up by the Rams.

After being cut by the Rams, he was re-signed by the Texans in the 2014 season. After that season, he was picked up again by the Rams. In 2015, after Nick Foles struggled for weeks on end, Keenum was named the starter and had the stellar performance noted above.

If only our faith could be as consistent as Keenum’s commitment to football! The writer of Hebrews notes some great hall of faith examples for us in chapter 11 and then opens chapter 12 with a challenge: “Since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us” (verse 1). Let’s keep running with endurance.

Let us run with endurance the race God has set before us.

Hebrews 12:1