By Jeff Slaughter
Director of the European Worship Institute
This blog is part four of a five-part series.

As worship ministry leaders, we don’t want to be ‘Sunday morning worshippers’, only giving God His due from the platform once a week. We want to live in His presence every day. But often, life gets in the way and we forget that. What might help us remember to walk more closely with Him?

Here’s a thought:
To live in His presence we need to persevere.

Luke 19:1-10
19 Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. 2 A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy. 3 He wanted to see who Jesus was, but because he was short he could not see over the crowd. 4 So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way.

Zacchaeus was short and couldn’t see over the crowds of people who had come to see Jesus. So being a tax collector he was a creative man and simply climbed a tree so he could see. He overcame his shortcoming and not only saw Jesus, but had dinner with Him that night. I believe Zacchaeus was a changed man that day because something in him desired to seek Jesus and he persevered in the face of obstacles.

Living in His presence isn’t always easy. We’re human – we have struggles – we have obstacles, whether they are physical or spiritual. We sin sometimes. We disobey sometimes. We fail sometimes. But like Zacchaeus, we have to persevere, and overcome our obstacles so that we can live in His presence.

It’s true, ‘winners don’t quit and quitters don’t win.’