2 TIMOTHY 4:7 – I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.”

 It was a painful but powerful lesson I learned.  We did not have a track team in my high school until my junior year.  We also didn’t have a “real” track coach. Just a teacher who had time on his hands.  So, in a matter of a few months, we had a track team and our first meet came upon us.  I signed up to run long distance.  I knew I was lightning fast to run a 100-yard dash, but I could run for long stretches, I thought.   Well, the time came at the meet for the long distance race.  I think it was about eight laps around an oval track.  I got in my lane with the seven other runners and “bang” off went the gun and off went the runners.  I quickly took the lead and after one lap, I was ahead by a long distance.  I thought, “This isn’t too hard.”  Then the second lap and I maintained the lead.  But on the third lap, either the other seven runners were running faster, or I was slowing down.  Well, the fourth lap was upon us and I felt this really burning sensation in my chest, and my pace not as fast.  Soon, a couple of runners passed me. Then a couple more and by the time the sixth lap started, I was dead last and there were no thoughts of winning, just finishing.  And I did. Last.  After the race, I learned the first and second place runners were all-state runners from a year ago.  The lesson?  They knew how to run. I knew nothing about running and it showed.  It wasn’t how well I started but how I finished.  It is like that in the Christian life.

In the Christian life, we are running a marathon, not a sprint or dash.  And it is easy to forget this, especially for young and immature Christians.  We may be full of zeal but lack the maturity concerning the Christian race. Like I was in the real race; a lot of zeal, zero knowledge.  In the Christian race, this can cause damage to our testimonies.  We commit to a ministry with zeal but when the true measurement of commitment comes – faithfulness – we might struggle.  The mature Christian will be faithful when we don’t feel like it, faithful when we don’t see fruit, faithful when we are exhausted, and faithful when we might just be all alone in the race.

The Apostle Paul knew what it took to be in the Christian race for life.  The reason why he proclaimed today’s scripture with confidence was the fact he disciplined his life to ensure he would finish well – 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).

So, let’s not only start well in the Christian race, let’s learn how to run it right so we will finish well.

PRAYER: “Father, help me to always remember I am in a spiritual race for all of life.”

QUOTE: “The Christian life is a marathon demanding daily discipline to run it.”