We held the greatest title in the whole world, babe. You lost that fight for all the wrong reasons. You lost your edge. All right, I know your manager dying had you all messed up inside, but the truth is you didn’t look hungry. Now when we fought, you had that eye of the tiger, man, the edge. And now you gotta get it back, and the way to get it back is to go back to the beginning. You know what I mean?
Eye of the tiger, man.
-Mick
Last week, we discussed how Rocky had lost his edge; he got civilized, as Mick said. This week, I want to look at the second part of Rocky 3 and one of the greatest lines uttered in a movie.
"Eye of the Tiger.”
Rocky didn't listen to Mick's advice, fought Clubber Lang, and was defeated. But he didn't stay down, thanks to his old opponent-now-turned-friend, Apollo Creed.
Apollo knew what Mick had tried to tell Rocky was true. He knew Rocky had become complacent, and he had to get back to the mindset of a fighter. He had to regain the Eye of the Tiger!
I am tired of seeing my brothers in Christ lying flat on the mat, defeated and knocked down. God didn't create us to live a defeated life. He promised us victory! We need to get on our fight and fight once again!
Apollo took Rocky back to his old gym to be around young, hungry boxers. He showed Rocky the passion in them to win, to be great, and to become the best. Apollo said, "See that look in their eyes, Rock? You gotta get that look back, Rock. Eye of the Tiger, man.”
Eye of the Tiger! Men, we need to get that look back!
EYE OF THE TIGER! We need the old passion back! We must remember where we came from and how God set us free. We have to remember the mess we were. We need to recall the wretched future that awaited us before God set us free. Eye of the Tiger!
We need to remember the gratitude and love we felt for God initially. We need to reclaim the same passion for God we had in the beginning! Eye of the Tiger, men, Eye of the Tiger!
We must regain the fervor for the things of God we once had. We have to reclaim our desire to spend time with Him. Like Rocky, we have to get back into training. We have to work hard. We have to sweat and labor to reclaim our fire for God. EYE OF THE TIGER!
We can do it! Like Rocky, we can regain our fire. Men live defeated because they lost their passion for God and for loving and pleasing Him. But we can get it back! We can overcome complacency. We can rebuild our relationship. We can be victorious! How do we do it?
The old-fashioned way! Through hard work, perseverance, and sacrifice. Rocky had to retrain.
He needed to develop a new training regimen, try different approaches and methods, learn to fight differently, and endure blood, sweat, and tears to regain his crown. But in the end, HE was the one with the Eye of the Tiger, and he was the one who stood victorious!
We can be victorious again! Sin doesn't need to control us. Bondage doesn't need to defeat us. Addiction doesn't need to define us. We can have victory!
Recapture your eye of the tiger, your zeal.
We have to go at it with 110% of our being. We need radical change. We must pursue God and His ways with a passion and fervor that surpasses what we had when we were first saved. We need to give it all we have. Eye of the Tiger!
We need to get back to where we used to be. Apollo told Rocky he had to get that look back. We must return to pursuing God in our lives wholeheartedly. We need the passion restored. We should ask God to restore the joy we once had.
King David prayed an excellent prayer we can all pray. David was a man after God's heart. He wanted to love and serve God more than anything in the world. However, over time, he lost sight of spending time with God as he served God as king of Israel. He lost the eye of the Tiger and stayed behind while his men went to war. As a result, David fell to temptation, had an affair with a married woman, and murdered her husband to keep his sins under wraps.
David wasn't able to keep it quiet. The prophet Nathan confronted David and pointed out David's sin. David immediately repented of his sins.
Thankfully, we have this repentant prayer recorded in Psalm 51. After David repents of his sin, he remembers the relationship he used to have, and he asks God to forgive him. Let's read part of His prayer.
"Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from Your presence or take Your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of Your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me." (Psalm 51:10-12, NIV)
Notice this prayer is a petition to God to restore the joy of his salvation. He wanted God to restore him to where he had fallen. This is an excellent example for all of us to follow.
God desires for His children to return to the passion and hunger they had when they first came to Him. He wants our relationship with Him to be as passionate and exciting as it was when we first sought Him. He waits for us to realize that we have strayed from this passion and to repent for allowing our hearts to grow cold. With open arms, He waits for us to be restored to where we once were, desiring a close and meaningful relationship with us.
Are there areas in your life where your love for God has become a sense of duty?
Do you still feel the same joy and passion you had when you first believed in Christ?
Have complacency and spiritual exhaustion from constantly doing good works hindered your relationship with God?
These are essential questions.
We must reflect on our lives and see if we have lost the fervor we once had for God. Then, we must return to the place where we drifted. We must do this today!
Reclaim that eye of the tiger!
Bibliography:
1. Rocky III. Directed by Sylvester Stallone , performances by Sylvester Stallone and Talia Shire , MGM/UA Entertainment Co., 1982.
コメント