My youngest ran her first race a couple of months ago. The kids got a t-shirt and a number just like the folks running the 5K and they each had a personalized sign on the race route to urge them on. The course was a half mile. Two laps around the block. It may not sound like much, but for legs that short, it's a long way. I mean, after you make it all the way around the block… you have to do it again! There were more than a handful of little ones with red faces ready to call it a day after that first lap. However, the crowd cheered like crazy. Moms and dads knifed through and took their little ones by the hand and said, "Come on. You can do this. One more lap. I'll go with you." So they kept running. No matter how wobbly things looked there in the middle, when the announcer called their names, and they came across the finish line, the kids beamed. Isn't that the way our Christian race is supposed to work?
- Finishing is the goal.
- Everybody cheering and encouraging you to keep going.
- Folks stepping out to run alongside you.
- No matter how tough things are in the middle, it will be worth it to hear our names called at the finish line.
Unfortunately, it doesn't always happen that way. We get consumed by competing, by our performance and we lose the joy. We get heckled instead of encouraged. We run alone. Sometimes we even give up.
Remember what it says in Hebrews 12:1-2?
Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Don't give up. Keep the finish line in mind and run that next lap. You can do this. I'm running with you.
Thank you, for running with me!
So encouraging and so straightforward. Just what we need as Christians. Wonderful post