The last year and a half I’ve gotten heavily involved in something I never thought I’d really enjoy – running. And I’m surprised myself to honestly admit that I actually enjoy it. In fact, I enjoy it to such an extent that I’ve found myself stir crazy through some of these extremely cold winter days. Last year I even ran a few races, 5ks and even a 10k trail run. Right now one of my friends from church and I are training to run the half marathon at Murray, KY in April. And every so often when someone learns of this plan the inevitable question is what my goal is (completion time, pace time, overall or age placement, etc.). Every single time my response is two-fold: (1) I want to run the entire distance, and (2) I want to finish. I don’t really care if I finish dead last as long as I accomplish those two things. Right now, to me, it’s all about the finish.
The Bible uses a lot of different metaphors to refer to life, Christianity, etc. One of those metaphors used to depict life is a race:
- 1 Corinthians 9:24 – “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.”
- 1 Timothy 4:7 – “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.”
- Hebrews 12:1 – “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us…”
And make no mistakes about it…we are in the run of our lives. Our adversary is not only trying to keep us from winning, he’s doing his best to keep us from finishing. Because he knows something that we tend to forget. That is, the win is all in the finish. That was Paul’s concern (1 Timothy 4:7) and should be ours.
Too often our competitive sides can get the best of us and we fall into a trick people have depended on to inflate their own self importance throughout history. Paul warned some to not “classify or compare ourselves with some of those who are commending themselves” because “when they measure themselves by one another and compare themselves with one another, they are without understanding” (2 Corinthians 10:12). The only person we are battling in this race is ourselves. We will either endure or not. We will either fight through the pain or not. We will either finish or not. But know, Christianity is about the endurance, it is about the fight, but above all it is about the finish. So run that you may obtain it.
-Andy Brewer