When training for a cross-country race there are many things to consider. For example, determining the approximate distance you expect to cover, the terrain you might encounter, the weather, choosing the right footwear, being conscience of what you eat before the race etc. Preparation is vital to ensure success. Even after all this preparation and training there is still one essential thing that must be done. You need to enter the race! All the preparation in the world will not ensure success if you never get into the race.
Let’s now examine our Christian walk! We do an abundance of preparation; reading and studying the Word of God, attending church services, going to mid-week meetings but many never actually decide to get into the race. It is all too common for many to think that this preparation just mentioned is the race. It’s not.
Running the Race
Just like in a cross-country race, in this life you will have trouble, and you will face obstacles, and you will get tired. But isn’t that what we are preparing for? This race involves becoming more like Jesus in every way, the way He thinks, speaks and acts; His relationship with His Father; His heart for helping and serving others; His desire for all people to know Him intimately so that none perish.
...to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the straps of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover him, and not to hide yourself from your own flesh? Isaiah 58:6-7
...to pour yourself out for the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then shall your light rise in the darkness and your gloom be as the noonday. Isaiah 58:10
...to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world. James 1:27
Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. Mark 16:15-16.
Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, cast out demons. You received without paying; give without pay. Matthew 10:8
This is not all about “works” though the scriptures say that we were created for good works (Ephesians 2:10). The truth is that we are to be ambassadors of Christ, rightly representing Him on the earth to see the kingdom of God advance. Let our preparation lead us to becoming the hands, feet, mouthpiece and heart of Jesus.
Finishing
For those who are already in the race I want to exhort you to finish strong. I have seen so many who were once going strong fade near the end of the race due to sin or discouragement or burnout or a multitude of other reasons. God has invested so much into your life throughout the years so continue to persevere, stand for truth and finish the race set before you. Think of the runners who spend years of preparation. They enters into the race, are running well and just before the finish line they stumble and fall. This is not God’s heart or plan for your life. His desire is that you finish strong.
Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified. 1 Corinthians 9:24-27
Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. Hebrews 12:1-2
We all want to be able to say as Paul did: I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 2 Timothy 4:7
