On September 6, 1995, Cal Ripkin, Jr., Orioles Hall of Famer, broke Lou Gehrig’s all-time consecutive game streak of 2,130 games. I remember watching that game, hearing the standing ovation that just would not stop, watching Ripkin shoved out of the dugout to take a lap around the field in the middle of the game just to get the game going again. Before he was finished, Ripkin would stretch that streak to 2,632 games. 2,632 consecutive games! He is baseball’s all-time iron man.
If there is a word that describes Ripkin it might be perseverance. Perseverance in our English dictionary means a steady persistence in a course of action, a purpose, a state, etc., especially in spite of difficulties, obstacles, or disappointments. I’m sure Ripkin had all those, he may not even have wanted to play baseball some days. But he persisted. It was his ethic to be there and do his job.
Heb 12:1 says, “let us run with perseverance [endurance] the race marked out for us.” The Greek word is hupomone (hoop-om-on-ay’). It adds something to our English definition of perseverance. It means cheerful (or hopeful) endurance.
Hopeful endurance. Why hopeful? Because of the following verse in Hebrews 12: “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the source [author] and perfecter of our faith.” [HCSB]
Our perseverance is cheerful and hopeful because what we see in front of us is not the acclaim of men, not a statistic in a record book, or even the garnering of Hall of Fame votes. It is Jesus, out in front of us, leading us in the race, urging us on to a perfection of faith. We fix our eyes on the One who died for us, who endured the cross with joy because of us. Because of Him, we can certainly persevere in our race, full of hope and cheerfulness.