Therefore I do
not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the
air.
1 Corinthians 9:26
The Christian Race is like a marathon in many ways except
one very important way. A marathon is
26.2 miles. No more, no less. It takes a lot of training to run a marathon
(of which I better get busy), but when I run it I know how far I need to go to
get the prize. The Christian Race does
not offer us a finite end point, a finish line accurately measured out for
us. Those that run it finish at different
points, only known before hand by the Master Runner and Creator of the
race. For some, the race may seem to go
on and on and on…for others, as I’ve experienced in the last week, the finish
line comes much earlier. The prize is
the same … the pursuit is the same … in all cases we must keep our eyes fixed
on Jesus if we are to successfully finish the race.
So what does this all mean?
It means we run with our eyes on the prize continuously. We don’t stray, we don’t wander
aimlessly. We don’t know when we will
reach the finish line. It could be
today, tomorrow, or 30 years from now.
So we must stay the course.
Tomorrow my marathon training continues. I have a lot of work to do. For reasons you probably already understand I
got off my training schedule a bit and need to refocus. I’m not going to say it will be unbearably
tough because I do enjoy running. But it’s
not easy either. Much like the Christian
race – the joy of the Lord is our strength (Nehemiah 8:10), so we can find joy
as we run, and that sustains us as we face the hills and valleys, the cold
weather and the storms, and keep pressing on until we do reach the finish line –
whenever that may come.
Run On!
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