How Is Your Race??

 Not sure if you are aware or not, but the moment you are born, your name and life enter a race. A life race that lasts from the moment you are born till you take your last breath! There is a start date, a finish date, and then all the dates that we live in the middle. Conception is the starting line, birth is the starter pistol going off. Unlike many other races, there are two routes to choose. The one that God sets before us, or the way of the world. Years ago, I was running in the worlds race. Then I was handed a baton that changed my directory and lane. That baton was Jesus! I started running the race that God has placed before me.

Hebrews 12:1 New Living Translation

12 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us.

Doing worldly things. Living a life of sin! Doing things my way. Heading for destruction. Alcohol, fornication, etc. etc. I worked hard, but I partied harder! The world was telling me to live a certain way. The worlds race was like a sprint. Go as fast and furious as you can. Full speed, to the end. 

Then I had a road to Damascus moment. Just like Saul (Paul), (Acts 9: 3-6), I saw that the way that I was living my life was not beneficial to anyone. I opened my eyes to see that the race that I was running was in the wrong direction. I had a daughter I was raising. What was I showing her? That it's okay to act this way. To do these things without any consequences? My eye opening experience showed me that I needed to start living differently. I life for God & family. I wasn't the only one I had to worry about any longer. I had another person I was responsible for. I am so grateful for that encounter. Jesus wasn't finished with me yet. He still had work for me to do. Starting with being a stable father.

I view the Christian life as a marathon, not a sprint. The world race wants everything RIGHT NOW!!

1 Corinthians 9:26 English Standard Version

26 So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air.

As we run the Christian race, Jesus justifies us. To become more like Him. 

Titus 3:7-8 The Message

3-8 It wasn’t so long ago that we ourselves were stupid and stubborn, easy marks for sin, ordered every which way by our glands, going around with a chip on our shoulder, hated and hating back. But when God, our kind and loving Savior God, stepped in, he saved us from all that. It was all his doing; we had nothing to do with it. He gave us a good bath, and we came out of it new people, washed inside and out by the Holy Spirit. Our Savior Jesus poured out new life so generously. God’s gift has restored our relationship with him and given us back our lives. And there’s more life to come—an eternity of life! You can count on this.

So I encourage you tonight. To keep running the good race. The one that God has set before you. That way when we come to the end it will be said of us:

2 Timothy 4:7-8 The Message

6-8 You take over. I’m about to die, my life an offering on God’s altar. This is the only race worth running. I’ve run hard right to the finish, believed all the way. All that’s left now is the shouting—God’s applause! Depend on it, he’s an honest judge. He’ll do right not only by me, but by everyone eager for his coming.

God bless.

Rev. Kev.