Thursday, December 26, 2024
Finish Your Race
For if we are faithful to the end, trusting God just as firmly as when we first believed, we will share in all that belongs to Christ. (Hebrews 3:14 NLT)
We all will leave a legacy of sorts. It will be a positive one or a negative one. But eventually our lives will come to an end, and we will leave a legacy. People might say some nice things about us at our funerals, but afterward, the truth will come out.
Of course, we don’t know how much time God will give to each one of us. We may live long, productive lives. And maybe we will be able to look back eventually and say that we finished well.
Or, our lives may be cut relatively short. We might not live quite that long. That is why we want to make sure that every day counts. We don’t want to waste a single moment.
On more than one occasion, the Bible likens the Christian life to running a race. Writing to the church in Corinth, the apostle Paul said, “Don’t you realize that in a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize? So run to win!” (1 Corinthians 9:24 NLT).
And the writer of Hebrews urges us, “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” (12:1 NLT).
The objective in the Christian life is not only to start our race well but also to cross the finish line. We must finish this race. The Bible warns us of failing to do that.
Again, we read in Hebrews, “Be careful then, dear brothers and sisters. Make sure that your own hearts are not evil and unbelieving, turning you away from the living God. . . . For if we are faithful to the end, trusting God just as firmly as when we first believed, we will share in all that belongs to Christ” (3:12, 14 NLT).
It doesn’t matter whether we’ve been in first place for nine laps in a ten-lap race. We have to cross the finish line. That is why Paul also said, “I discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what it should. Otherwise, I fear that after preaching to others I myself might be disqualified” (1 Corinthians 9:27 NLT).
We must be so very careful.
Paul, addressing the elders of Ephesus prior to his departure, spoke of his impending imprisonment. He told them, “But my life is worth nothing to me unless I use it for finishing the work assigned me by the Lord Jesus—the work of telling others the Good News about the wonderful grace of God” (Acts 20:24 NLT). That was Paul’s goal. He wanted to finish his race.
In the race of life, we’re not competing with each other. I’m not running against you. And you’re not running against me. Our goal is not to outrun each other. Rather, our goal is to stay in our lane and finish the race that God has set before us.
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