Did you know that the Lord is not all that interested in how you started your "race". His main interest is in how we finish the race.
I know people who began their walk of faith with Jesus Christ who stumbled and fell with great regularity. It looked like a "false start" but then they picked themselves up, sometimes with the helping hand of a fellow runner, dusted themselves off and put one foot in front of the other and kept at it.
Living a life of faith in Jesus Christ is not a life of perfection, it is a life of faith, hope and utter dependance on the One on whom our faith depends from start to finish.
In Hebrews chapter 12, following Jesus is compared to running a Marathon . Anything that adds weight or interferes with one's stride and pace is jettisoned at the starting line. You will never see a marathon runner carrying luggage of any kind as they run. They wear the lightest clothes and the lightest, most durable running shoes.
They run like they mean it!
The main concern is not how fast they get off the line, but how they pace themselves, how they persevere through the grueling course and most of all how they finish. If you have begun to follow Jesus, you are meant to finish the race and finish well. The only way to do that is to fix your eyes on Jesus, the One on whom your faith depends from start to finish.
St. Paul stated in Philippians 3:12 that he was still running, he hadn't yet come to perfection. He knew that Jesus would finish the good work that He had begun. St. Paul's part was to press on, keep following in faith, running the race Jesus had called him to run so as to take hold of that for which Jesus had taken hold of him.
When St. Paul wrote this , he wasn't at the finish line yet. He could remember the times he had stumbled and fallen. He could recall the bite of the gravel on his knees and hands. We all fall down, but we have to get up! One stumble does not disqualify the runner. Get up!
St. Paul urges fellow runners to forget what lies behind and to strain forward to what lies ahead; to keep running. Our spiritual adversary continually reminds us of where we have stumbled and wants us to be so focused on what happened in the past, that by looking backward, we are assured of tripping and falling again. To mix metaphors, you have put your shoulder to the plow...don't look back! Those are Jesus' words in Luke 9:62! Keep your eyes on Jesus!
Seasoned runners will tell you that the length of the race can itself become a discouragement. They can't see the finish line. So they pick out a landmark somewhere out in the distance and race towards that. Each segment of the race adds up and because Jesus is leading us, having run the same course and finished in the glory of His Resurrection, He knows perfectly how to assist us to run well...to finish well.
You are not alone in this race. There is a great cloud of witnesses already in Heaven who have finished the course. There is a great throng of fellow runners who are with you now. Don't straggle in self pity or regret at the back or the pack. Run in the middle of the pack, in the fellowship of other followers of Jesus Christ.
In the wild, it's the stragglers at the back of the herd that are most vulnerable to attack from the roaring lion. When you run with others in fellowship you can encourage one another, steady one another, even strengthen "weak arms and feeble knees" so that no one falls out.
You have today. Trust Jesus with the whole of it. Run as one who is destined to win the prize or the high calling you have in Christ Jesus! Fix your eyes on Jesus! RUN!
I know people who began their walk of faith with Jesus Christ who stumbled and fell with great regularity. It looked like a "false start" but then they picked themselves up, sometimes with the helping hand of a fellow runner, dusted themselves off and put one foot in front of the other and kept at it.
Living a life of faith in Jesus Christ is not a life of perfection, it is a life of faith, hope and utter dependance on the One on whom our faith depends from start to finish.
In Hebrews chapter 12, following Jesus is compared to running a Marathon . Anything that adds weight or interferes with one's stride and pace is jettisoned at the starting line. You will never see a marathon runner carrying luggage of any kind as they run. They wear the lightest clothes and the lightest, most durable running shoes.
They run like they mean it!
The main concern is not how fast they get off the line, but how they pace themselves, how they persevere through the grueling course and most of all how they finish. If you have begun to follow Jesus, you are meant to finish the race and finish well. The only way to do that is to fix your eyes on Jesus, the One on whom your faith depends from start to finish.
St. Paul stated in Philippians 3:12 that he was still running, he hadn't yet come to perfection. He knew that Jesus would finish the good work that He had begun. St. Paul's part was to press on, keep following in faith, running the race Jesus had called him to run so as to take hold of that for which Jesus had taken hold of him.
When St. Paul wrote this , he wasn't at the finish line yet. He could remember the times he had stumbled and fallen. He could recall the bite of the gravel on his knees and hands. We all fall down, but we have to get up! One stumble does not disqualify the runner. Get up!
St. Paul urges fellow runners to forget what lies behind and to strain forward to what lies ahead; to keep running. Our spiritual adversary continually reminds us of where we have stumbled and wants us to be so focused on what happened in the past, that by looking backward, we are assured of tripping and falling again. To mix metaphors, you have put your shoulder to the plow...don't look back! Those are Jesus' words in Luke 9:62! Keep your eyes on Jesus!
Seasoned runners will tell you that the length of the race can itself become a discouragement. They can't see the finish line. So they pick out a landmark somewhere out in the distance and race towards that. Each segment of the race adds up and because Jesus is leading us, having run the same course and finished in the glory of His Resurrection, He knows perfectly how to assist us to run well...to finish well.
You are not alone in this race. There is a great cloud of witnesses already in Heaven who have finished the course. There is a great throng of fellow runners who are with you now. Don't straggle in self pity or regret at the back or the pack. Run in the middle of the pack, in the fellowship of other followers of Jesus Christ.
In the wild, it's the stragglers at the back of the herd that are most vulnerable to attack from the roaring lion. When you run with others in fellowship you can encourage one another, steady one another, even strengthen "weak arms and feeble knees" so that no one falls out.
You have today. Trust Jesus with the whole of it. Run as one who is destined to win the prize or the high calling you have in Christ Jesus! Fix your eyes on Jesus! RUN!
No comments:
Post a Comment