Resolute

In the oval office sits a desk made from the timbers of the HMS Resolute, an Arctic expedition ship commissioned by the Royal Navy to find a northwest passage and to then rescue another crew who became lost in the Arctic. The Resolute was itself trapped in the ice, and its crew lost. A U.S. whaler found the ship years later drifting some 1200 miles from its entrapment, empty of crew, but with a British flag draped across the captain's desk. Three desks were made from the timbers and one was presented to the U.S. president Rutherford B. Hayes in 1880, and has been used by most U.S. presidents since. The name Resolute has captured our attention ever since. But, there is another story that is even more compelling. In Luke 9:51 we are told that "He resolutely set His face to go to Jerusalem." If you think His conversation with His brothers previous to this was a sign of His reluctance or caution, you would be wrong. Jesus had a firm conviction and determination to go to Jerusalem to complete the work He was given by His Father. He set his mind and jaw, and set His hand to the plow, and fixed His gaze on the goal and the prize, and stepped onto the road that would lead to His death, and our salvation. I would loved to have seen the look in His eye as He set out that morning from Galilee to charge Jerusalem's hill.

This one single insight into the mind of Christ is gold and it provides the theological basis for a whole series of passages which speak of our becoming resolute. There are at least three other words that are used to express this character trait: strengthened, confirmed, and established. A goal of our spiritual growth in becoming like Jesus is to have the same resoluteness as He had when He stepped out one brisk morning to head south on His decisive campaign of a cosmic war on which the lives of every person who ever lived hung. This battle demanded complete resolve. This battle was crucial. Everything would be won or lost during the coming weeks. There could not be more at stake. Yesterday was D-Day, the day the allies stormed the beaches in France to begin a campaign that would ultimately defeat Nazism and its demonic leader. This was Jesus' D-Day. This was Bunker Hill. This was Armageddon.

So what of us? Jesus tells Peter that when he turns again, he is to strengthen his brothers (Luke 22:32). In other words when Peter became resolute in his following of Jesus, he is to help his brothers become resolute. Paul went back to the churches he established strengthening the disciples, i.e. helping them to be become more resolute. (Acts 18:23) Paul tells us that we are established by the gospel (Rom.16:25). Paul sent Timothy to Thessaloniki to strengthen and establish and encourage their faith. (1 Thess.3:2) God Himself is about this business. (1 Thess.3:13; 2 Thess.3:3) James (the brother who once did not believe in Jesus) encourages us to become resolute in the face of Jesus' coming. God uses suffering, as Peter learned, in the process of producing resoluteness in us. (1 Peter 5:10) Truth establishes resoluteness according to 2 Peter 1:12. Gideon pursued this with his army and reduced the resolute down to 300. Joshua challenged the people of Israel to this when he told them to choose this day who they will serve. Jesus did this with a question in John 6 when he asked the apostles if they were going to go away too. Jesus wants to know who is solid, who is with him, who is ready to take the hill, win the game, and get the job done. Want a visual of this? Go to www.resoluteracing.com.