Summer is here and every year at this time my mind often goes back to the past when I attended church camp. It wasn't anything elaborate back then. We also went to church a LOT but the one thing that stood out was the one hour each day we would spend learning new songs. The one song that has stayed with me is the song "Runner".
"Runner" was a song performed by Contemporary Christian Music artist Twila Paris. The song was one of encouragement and compared the life of a believer to one about someone who is running a race.
Watch the lyric video of the song here.
I will be honest with you...I don't like running. Never have. Running isn't fun. People do it and I know it's a good form of exercise but still doesn't appeal to me. But when I think about it, the life of a believer is a lot like running a marathon.
Just like running, being a believer takes commitment. It isn't something that is always a mountain-top experience. There are going to be some long, lonely stretches of the journey that will be very difficult. I don't like those times. It's in those times that you see what you're made of. You either press through or give up. Believe me - there are many times I have considered giving up. There are times I am tired or stumble, but I keep running the race.
So why shouldn't I give up? It seems that no one believes in God anymore and if they do they are extreme fanatical who wouldn't know Jesus if He appeared in front of them. Wouldn't it be a lot easier if I just gave up this nonsense believing in some "sky wizard" who is invisible and never talks back - ever?
My belief in God was instilled in me at an early age and I have never had a time when I didn't believe. Oh, I have rebelled at times and gone my own way, but I've always come back to the race. Over the years, I have had to adjust my race along the way, but I totally believe there is a prize at the end of this race.
The Apostle Paul wrote in Hebrews 12:1 that "Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us" which is how the King James Version of the Bible translates this passion but I REALLY like how this is translated in The Message Version:
Do you see what this means—all these pioneers who blazed the way, all these veterans cheering us on? It means we’d better get on with it. Strip down, start running—and never quit! No extra spiritual fat, no parasitic sins. Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we’re in. Study how he did it. Because he never lost sight of where he was headed—that exhilarating finish in and with God—he could put up with anything along the way: Cross, shame, whatever. And now he’s there, in the place of honor, right alongside God. When you find yourselves flagging in your faith, go over that story again, item by item, that long litany of hostility he plowed through. That will shoot adrenaline into your souls!In spite of the obstacles and the lack of belief around me, I stay in the race. I am determined to finish. This isn't a race about who finishes first. The prize is to finish the race and to complete the course of this journey. I have seen people who "found" Jesus and sprinted ahead only to flame out shortly thereafter. This isn't about being fast. It is about finishing and helping others finish with you.
There is a story about runners Abbey D’Agostino (USA) and Nikki Hamblin (New Zealand) left the world touched while competing in the women’s 5,000-meter event at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.During the race, somewhere around 3,200 meters, runners Abbey D’Agostino and Nikki Hamblin collided. Hamblin was running when she suddenly had to slow her pace to avoid contact with another runner and then D’Agostino bumped into her from the back, bringing them both to the ground. As D’Agostino was getting up, she noticed Hamblin was hurt and needed help.
“When I went down it was like, ‘what’s happening? Why am I on the ground?’ Hamblin told the press. “And suddenly there’s this hand on my shoulder, like ‘get up, get up, we have to finish this!’ I’m so grateful for Abbey for doing that for me. That girl is the Olympic spirit right there.”
Both girls eventually made it to the finish line. Even though Hamblin came in second to last and D’Agostino came in last with her twisted ankle, their good sportsmanship got them into the finals.
