Friday, 13 June 2008

• The race of life

  March 29th, 2008

   

  The typical American day…

   

  6 A.M. wake up for work after 5-6 hours of sleep. We can’t sleep because we’re worried about the bills, priorities, our loved ones, and what the day holds for us.

   

  6:01 A.M. hit the snooze button and hope for 10 more minutes of sleep

   

  6:30 A.M. get dressed and struggle to get everyone else up and ready for the day

   

  7:30 A.M. chug down our coffee as we head out the door to work hoping for catastrophes of Biblical proportions so we can go back to sleep

   

  10:05 A.M. we find ourselves busy at work, but no time for a break, the boss is around the corner.

   

  Noon, lunch time, thank God, but supervisor says keep it short

   

  3:30 P.M. our heads fall at our shoulders in sheer exhaustion wondering if this day will ever end.

   

  4:59 P.M. we watch the clock slowly wind to 5 PM hoping to rush out the door like kids on the last day at school

   

  5:05 P.M. so much for getting home early, traffic jam

   

  5:07 P.M. just as traffic clears our significant other calls, ‘Honey, could you pick up the kids at the babysitters? I’m running late.” Silently we scream bloody murder, but we calmly and mockingly say, ‘Yes honey. Is there anything else I can do for you?” Surprisingly they say, “Well yeah actually you can honey, stop by the grocery store on the way home and pick up some milk, ground beef, yogurt for me, and some frosted flakes for the kids. Bye babe.”

   

  5:15 P.M. after 8 minutes of yelling at the top of our lunges we find a way to squeeze into the right lane, get on the on rap, turn back around to go pick up the kids, and go get groceries.

   

  5:45 P.M. note to self, never take hungry kids grocery shopping.

   

  6:15 P.M. arrive home, get kids out of car, and fall face first on the couch for a few moments of rest.

   

  7:25 P.M. wake up to spouse fumbling through refrigerator and cabinets. Spouse asks us, “Honey, where are those groceries I asked you to get? You didn’t forget did you?” We smartly answer back, “No darling, I got it! You just don’t see them.” Spouse says, “Well where did you put them all? I can’t make hamburger helper without them.” Only then do we remember that all of the groceries are still sitting out in the car. We run out only to find luke-warm milk and mushy beef. We walk back inside and hand our spouse the MasterCard and say, “Never mind the groceries, order a couple pizzas.”

   

  8:15 P.M. as we fall back in forth between rest and sleep lying on the couch watching re-runs of Friends our cell phone begins to ring, and guess what it’s our sugarbear! “Hey, honey Pizza-hut won’t take the MasterCard, they declined it, they said it’s maxed out.” We answer, “Do you have any money on you?” Our spouse says, “Now if I had money I wouldn’t have called you.” We say, “Fine, fine, just come home, we can have cereal, I’m fine with that.” Spouse says, “With what milk?” We laugh mockingly and tell them, “Just come home.”

   

  9:30 P.M. the only sound in the house is stomachs rumbling from hunger. We’re mad at our spouse, their mad at us, and the kids are just hungry.

   

  10:15 P.M. we lay in bed as our spouse turns off the light and says nothing more to us. We know we will only lie in bed for the next 3 hours thinking about the hassles of this day, and what stress awaits us tomorrow.

   

  Now as I read that story some of you were thinking that was me last week, last month, or last Friday night. Sometimes it feels like all this life is, is just an unending race with no finish line. When it seems the finish line should be just over that next hill it’s no where in sight. It’s so easy to just give up and forfeit the race believing that it’s too hard and we just can’t do it.

   

  If that’s you, if you feel overwhelmed by everything and everyone around you, I want to give you some encouragement today. Paulos of Tarsus or just plain Paul as we know him from the Acts of the Apostles and other Epistles constantly described this life as a race. However, Paul tells his readers that they can overcome life and all its hassles. How you ask, by looking at life the same way a runner looks at a race. Today as we find life in the word I pray that you too can understand that you too are more then a conqueror as it states in Romans 8:37, and don’t have to let life defeat you.

   

  (A). Just as a runner dresses appropriately for their race, so we too must be dressed properly spiritually for what awaits us.

   

  Runners plan for their weather and their surroundings. If it’s going be hot they’ll wear as little clothing as possible so that they won’t sweat more then needed draining their electrolytes which were stocked up for future use. If it’s going to be cold they’ll wear more layers so that when running, the cold chill across their body doesn’t get their mind sidetracked from the race.

   

  How do we as Christians dress properly, we suit up with the armor of God.

   

  Eph 6:13 So put on God's armor now! Then when the evil day comes, you will be able to resist the enemy's attacks; and after fighting to the end, you will still hold your ground. 14 So stand ready, with truth as a belt tight around your waist, with righteousness as your breastplate, 15 and as your shoes the readiness to announce the Good News of peace. 16 At all times carry faith as a shield; for with it you will be able to put out all the burning arrows shot by the Evil One. 17 And accept salvation as a helmet, and the word of God as the sword which the Spirit gives you.

   

  I want to challenge you guys to do this when you dress. Recite the armor of God scripture as you put on different pieces or layers of clothing, this will help your mind and your heart be prepared for the day as it comes.

   

  (B). Just as a runner pays attention to their diet, so we too should pay attention to our spiritual diet.

   

  A runner understands that bad eating habits can sabotage his or her results in the race. Thus, for the best results a runner will eat foods that will help them achieve better success.

   

  Christian, you need to understand today that what you are feasting on via movies, magazines, books, television, music, or whatever else is either killing or furthering your progress as a growing Christian. If you desire intimacy with God but are constantly watching and viewing things that you know clearly contradict the word of God then you can expect to grow no closer to your savior, but only farther away. However, if you truly do desire intimacy we are promised through the word that if we feast on his words as bread, listen to worship and Christian music, read uplifting stories, or just do anything that helps to build us up as a Christian that we will have a much closer walk with the Father. How do I know?

   

  Gal 6:7 Make no mistake about this: You can never make a fool out of God. Whatever you plant is what you'll harvest. 8 If you plant in the soil of your corrupt nature, you will harvest destruction. But if you plant in the soil of your spiritual nature, you will harvest everlasting life.

   

  Today, follower of Christ take a good look at what your diet consists of. Understand the principle that you are what you eat. Whatever you’re consuming is either destroying you or moving you closer to God.

   

  (C). Just as a runner runs with as little weight as possible, so we too should shed off all unnecessary weight.

   

  How much sense would it make for a runner to run a race with a backpack loaded down with a 50 pound tube of sand? None at all. That extra weight will only slow him down, cause him to be tired quicker, and hinder his performance from being all that he or she can be.

   

  We laugh and mock the person who would try such a stupid, yet we’re too blind that all of us in some way are trying to run this race, life, with our own bag of sand weighing us down. Each of us in some way have some habit, some material object, some ideal, maybe even some person that is weighing us down and causing us to tire, slow us down, and stop from us running at full speed.

   

  Heb 12:1 therefore since we also are surrounded with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight and the sin which so easily besets us

   

  Take not reader, Paul says weight and sin, so it isn’t necessarily just sin that can slow us down in life. So what is a weight? A weight is something heavy that weighs down or impedes progress, and as I said before it may not be sin in your life that is slowing you down from experiencing life for all that God made it to be, but it could be some goal your reaching for, your job, some material object (car, house), or perhaps a person. If you know it is sin then definitely end it now, but if it’s not necessarily sin but some other weight that is dragging you down make the decision like Jesus said to cut off from your life whatever is causing you to sin or experience distance from God.

   

  There is no gray matter; it’s either black or white. You can acknowledge what’s slowing you down from having an amazing fulfilling walk with Christ where you feel his presence everyday and know that he hears you when you call and cast off that thing or that person, or you can continue to just drag along making no pace at all still having that thing, ideal, or person weighing you down.

   

  (D). Just as a runner keeps his heart and mind focused on the prize or finish line, so we too should keep our hearts and minds focused on our prize, Christ.

   

  In a race there may be several different things to distract you along the way and get your focus off the prize, scenery, obstacles, and even people. However, a skilled runner zones all things, places, and people out in order to run with one goal for one goal.

   

  Church, is there anything that’s distracting you? Is there anything that is causing you to lose focus in life? Is there anything that you are allowing to take priority over Jesus? We must train ourselves to have tunnel vision that leads straight to Jesus.

   

  Heb 12:2 We must focus on Jesus, the source and goal of our faith. He saw the joy ahead of him, so he endured death on the cross and ignored the disgrace it brought him.

   

  People, it’s time we got cross-eyed with our eyes planted firmly on the cross of Christ, as we live this life with all strength and endurance for him. We don’t allow stress from family, work, or home to get us off course, we don’t let the worries of past or future decisions to stop us dead in our tracks, and we don’t let the opinions and decisions of others to change our course.

   

  (E). Finally, just as a runner gets back up when they fall down or stumble, so we too shouldn’t give up but keep pressing on.

   

  When you watch a race, running or bicycling, you can see those who have a stronger will or drive then others. When some fall down and bruise their faces, have open wounds with blood pouring out, and maybe even a broken bone or two they just walk off to the side and are escorted back to the end of the race. However, some press on past the pain their feeling and get back on their feet or their bike and start going after it hard again.

  How many of you know that when you fall down it’s easy to just give up? You feel the weight of the world on your shoulders, stress is overwhelming, and somehow through sin or failure you find yourself on your back or face again. In these times of failing it is easy just to pull out the white flag and say I give up, I’m tired of trying to live this Christian life, its way too hard, I just can’t do it. Although that may be the route that some take, let me assure you that no matter how many times you fail and fall you can always get back up.

   

  Pro 24:16 A righteous person may fall seven times, but he gets up again.

   

  Even though seven is the Biblical number of perfection, seven is just used here to stress that the believer falls or fails a lot, he always gets right back up again and presses on no matter how hard it may be. Now their may be a few in here who feel like they literally are at the end of their rope. Perhaps, the world has crashed all over you. You have lost all hope and wonder if God really does care, or if there really is God. Can I tell you that Paul felt this same way too? Yes, the great Apostle who wrote over 2/3 of the NT became weary and wanted to give up hope too near the end of his life.

   

  Php 1:21 For to me to live is Christ (Kristos), and to die is gain (Kerdos). 22 But if I live in the flesh, this is the fruit of my labor. Yet I do not know what I shall choose. 23 For I am pressed together by the two: having a desire to depart and to be with Christ, which is far better. 24 But to remain in the flesh is more needful for you.

   

  Paul wrote the epistle of Philippians while in the jail in the city of Philippi. He of course was in jail for his denial to stop sharing the good news of Christ. While in there he states that in verse 21 that he is ready to be with Christ, but he knows that serving Jesus on this earth is very beneficial too. Look at verse 23 he states that he has a strong desire to depart and be with Jesus which is far better. The word depart in Greek is the word analuo. In the original Greek usage during Paul’s time this word had two different meanings.

  ·         To strike up camp

  ·         To pull up the anchor and head on

   

  Paul was essentially saying that, “You know guys this life is way too tough, I’m tired of all the stress, all the pain, all the uncertainty. I just wish that they would end my life so I could be with Jesus and away from this world.” However, look at verse 24, to remain the flesh or the body is of far better to use. Paul was literally at the end of his rope, but for the sake of Christ and those around him he still found the strength to press on.

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