"He's going the Distance!"

I saw a band play in Boston many years ago called Cake and they played
a song called, "he's going the distance!" If you just hear the lyrics
you think that they are singing about racing around in a car, but if
you see the video, they are talking about the "rat race." Ready, Set,
Go! Everybody loves a race, the feeling of sweet victory, the feeling
that you are better than someone else! Races come in different forms:
the previously mentioned rat race, foot race, who can drink the
fastest, who can eat the most hotdogs, marathons, Ironman, NASCAR, you
name it. The one who wins isn't always the strongest, but they that
perseveres! Winners are not born, they are forged out of sweat and
sacrifice in one way or the other. The whole goal of a race is to win,
win something; a crown, medal, money, bragging rights, whatever, but
the winner takes something home.
In the same way, our Journey with Christ is a race, a race that is
usually long, very long and when we finish, yes we get a crown, but we
also get to go home! How long have we yearned to be home with our real
family and to be with our true father!
Yet Paul alludes to the fact that not all finish the race. In Acts
20:24 Paul says, "however, I consider my life worth nothing to me, if
only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has
given me-the task of testifying to the gospel of God's grace."
Like any race people fall, I fall, you fall and depending on the fall
or injury, it can be very easy to give up, to quit running, maybe try
something easier, but don't give up. Our strengh comes from the Lord,
ask and you shall recieve. We are not to run on our own because we
will defintely fail and get hurt.
As we run our spiritual race, we will discover weaknesses that were
once dormant, they appear to be obstacles but if we trust God to help
hurdle them, we become stronger in God's grace. If we fail to hurdle
the object, God picks us up in His grace and gets us back on track and
one day, one hour, or one minute we will come across the same hurdle,
and until we trust in God to help us over it, we will get stuck. But
God's grace is sufficient and doesn't allow us to be attempted more
than we can bear, we need to exercise our faith and trust in Jesus for
strength and victory.
Elite athletes train everyday and are disciplined, we too, me too,
need to live a disciplined life. The fight starts in the heart and
wages in the mind. Paul talks abou taking every thought captive in
obedience in Christ. When you're angry, pray for that person, when you
lust, pray for them for God loves all his sheep and will go to great
lengths to find them. God freely gave to us, so we too should freely
give.
Glory to God who makes the impossible, possible!