Finishing, Godliness, and Boston

And to your steadfastness, add godliness - 2 Peter 1:6

Here's a sobering thought. Someone does not want you to finish the race.

I was thinking this week about those in the Boston Marathon who fell short of just finishing the race.  They trained hard, and came so close, and then in a moment were told that the race was over.  On top of that, many had family and friends waiting for them at the finish line. Not only would these family and friends not see them finish – there was a sudden concern if they were even alright. 

Now they fell short, not in part to something they did but because of the actions of others.  In all the races that I have run I have never failed to finish. But I know many who have started the race and for whatever reason have had to drop out.  There are many distractions that we will encounter along the way, There are many battles, some big and some small that have to be fought.  These distractions can take us away from our ultimate goal of finishing the race.  True wisdom comes from knowing which battles to fight and which battles to let go.

 In 2002 I ran the Air Force Marathon.  I had just completed Mile 25 when my leg cramped and I fell to the ground.  I was on pace for my best time ever but now found myself on the side of the road trying to get up.  After several minutes I was able to battle the cramps and move on.  I finished in 4:07.  Still my best time ever.  I could have given up.  I had good reason to.  But the finish line was in sight and that motivated me to continue on.  I’m glad I did.

There are many people in life though that have given up on running the race.  They started out strong, but got sidetracked.  It may have been an illness that caused it, or financial difficulty, or the betrayal of a friend.  There are problems that occur outside of our control that we must deal with – and to do so we must keep our eyes on the finish line. 

Sadly there are also those that do not finish because of things they can control.  They took their eyes off the finish line and put it on other things – material success, fame, sex, to name  a few.

 

 This charge I entrust to you, Timothy, my child, in accordance with the prophecies previously made about you, that by them you may wage the good warfare, holding faith and a good conscience. By rejecting this, some have made shipwreck of their faith.

 1 Timothy 1:19-20

 

Satan does not want us to finish the race – he wants us to get sidetracked. 

That's where godliness comes in.  In its simplest form godliness is being like God.  Being godly means that we focus on the things that God focuses on.  It means being holy, set apart, for God's purposes.

It means keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus – the Finish Line.

We will always have the distractions, the nuisance battles to fight.  Let's do our best to trust Christ for their victory and keep our focus on the eternal.  Yes I know that it is hard to focus on the eternal when there are bills to be paid and relationships to be mended.  It’s hard to focus on Christ when there are temptations that try to draw us away.  But much like the side pains you feel when overexerting yourself these distractions are just a nuisance –they will pass if we focus on Christ. 

The day after the Boston Marathon several hundred runners met in the Boston streets to run.  Amidst all the chaos and other distractions they wanted to prove that a couple madmen were not going to bring them down.

For those of us who profess faith in Christ – how much greater should be our resolve?

Add godliness, and let’s finish the race.

 

Run On!