The blast of the starter’s gun rifles through the air and the ‘race begins’.
The first contestant begins at a snail’s crawl, to drag his motionless lower half body, inch by inch down the lane. It is painful to witness. And to add insult to injury, with each grasp of the rough texture of the track surface, shreds of skin get scrapped off his hand and lower torso revealing small openings in the skin where blood begins to seep through. He will not last long.
The second contestant remains in the same spot but begins to profusely make loud proclamations that he ‘can do this’ and ‘I’m a winner and I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me’ and “I’m more than a conqueror” and ‘Greater is He that is in me…!” Yet he remains in the same spot.
But something different has happened with the third contestant. His ‘coach’ stepped in immediately and hoisted him up wrapping his arms around the contestant’s waist while his drooping legs and feet rest on the coach’s feet. The crowds witness this contestant making his way around the oval track. You can hear the whispers of disbelief amongst the cries of ‘foul’ or ‘that’s cheating’. Oddly enough, a strange phenomenon begins to take place. It seems as if one moment, you can see the actual coach ‘carrying’ his student around the track, but then he seems to vanish or become translucent. It’s like you see him, but then you can’t which gives the appearance that the runner is doing this on his own, but then you see again clearly he is Not doing this in his own strength and ability. It is quite perplexing. But before long, contestant # 3…’finishes his race’.
Here’s a question for you: All three contestants were invited to join the race and be a participant. They all got the same jerseys. Did all three finish the race?
God’s plan for ‘whosoever’ …was the invitation to take up our cross and follow Him. His goal for each of us was to “present you holy, and blameless and above reproach in His sight…IF Indeed you Continue in the faith , grounded and steadfast and are not moved away.” (Col 1:22-23)
Jesus said this: “He who endures (perseveres) to the end shall be saved.” (Matt 24:13)
Paul writes about those who heard the gospel he preached will be ‘saved IF they hold fast to the word he preached” (1 Cor 15:2)
James writes: “He who looks into the perfect law of liberty and CONTINUES in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.” (James 1:25)
Our ‘contestant’ #3, upon crossing the finish line and receiving his medal, was asked his thoughts on how he completed the race in the manner that he did. He was very transparent and candid in his response.
I owe it all to my ‘coach’. It was as if my body was dead, yet I was alive. Actually…it was my coach in/with me if that makes any sense. It was not me, but my coach In me that enabled me to run and finish this race”. (Gal 2:20)
When asked by a reporter if he thought he had an unfair advantage over the other two contestants, contestant #3 responded….”I don’t see how that could be the case. They had the same exact coaching staff as well who were willing to do the same for them as was done for me.”
He continued on: “The runner in the first lane insisted on doing it himself. And the one in the middle seemed adamant there was no need to move and was trying to convince everyone standing around down there that he had already completed and won the race simply because he lined up in the starting block and had the team jersey on. He kept declaring he had finished or won by faith.”
There was one last question by an observant reporter. “We noticed that you started out slowly even with the coach carrying you. Then you started reaching into the pockets of your shorts and discarding some objects we couldn’t see clearly. As you did, your pace seemed to pick up and you were running faster. Can you explain this?”
“Oh sure” contestant 3 begins. “Given the amount of time I have spent close to the ground my whole life and in my condition, I collected a lot of rocks. I had a pretty significant rock collection that I had grown attached to. I carried them with me everywhere. Coach kept whispering into my ear that this race would much easier if I would begin to discard the extra weight.
He even made it sound like I might not finish this race unless I was wiling to lay those rocks down. It was hard at first given how long I had those with me. But He was right…the more I began to cut loose of the excess ‘baggage’, the faster I got. It was truly liberating…I felt like I was actually running the more I got rid of those weights.”
…..
Admittedly, most analogies are imperfect, yet they can serve a point. And my point here is that for the most part, I am guessing that so many Christians today are more in tune with Contestant #1 and #2.
If you read my post yesterday, it was having to do with this thing we call ‘righteousness’ and how we ‘receive it by faith’.
When we ‘begin’ this race with Christ, it is just that…a beginning. It is to be a life of surrender and obedience to Him and the leading of His Spirit. And the very first thing He is going to do when He embraces us is to lead us to ‘get rid of the rocks’ in our hearts/souls. (Rom 8:13) You will not be able to finish this race holding on to all those sins of the flesh. (Gal 5:19-21) Be not deceived with ‘empty words’.
As you continue in this faith of obedience, something remarkable and supernatural begins to unfold. You…begin to ‘decrease’ and He begins to ‘increase’. (John 3:30) You are abiding in Him. It’s all Him doing this In you. As long as you abide in Him, fruit will be evident and you won’t be sinning. (1 John 3:6) Do you understand that as you continue this race, you are being ‘perfected in His love’? ( 1 John 2:5) It will be evident to all. (John 13:35; John 15:8)
And guess what…Love is the fulfillment of the Law which you and I are to ‘do’. Love, with His love. (Gal 5:14)
The ONLY way this is going to happen is if we ‘follow…and obey’. “Why do you call me Lord, and not do the things I say?” (Luke 6:46)
Need I remind you that while many begin this race, yet for one reason or another, many also drop out and don’t finish. (John 6:66)
But IF…we continue on pursuing the things of the Spirit and Not the flesh, we begin to discover and experience that we are no longer under condemnation which is what comes on those who break the law. Christ, fulfills the law in us in the same way He came to fulfill the law. We are told in Romans 8:4 that ALL of the ‘righteous requirements of the law are fully met in us who no longer walk after the flesh, but the Spirit.
When it comes to those who do a lot of running, I’ve often heard them speak of this byproduct called a ‘runner’s high’. I’ll take them at their word regarding that.
But in this ‘race’ we are in with Christ…I can tell you there is definitely a tremendous byproduct…scripture refers to it as ‘life, peace, joy, and liberty’
I leave you with the words from one who ran and finished the race already...experienced runners often have good advice to share -
Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, (Heb 12:1)
I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. (2 Tim 4:7)
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