Run the Race

So I ran a triathlon on Saturday, August 1st (see post here), and then preached a sermon at church the next day about running the race God has called us to, as the apostle Paul says in Acts 20:24, "I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me--the task of testifying to the gospel of God's grace."

In my message, I talked about how if we focus on ourselves--our own insufficiencies and inadequacies; our own imperfect life circumstances--then we are inevitably going to get discouraged and quit running the race. But when we choose to focus on God, our contentment is immovable despite our own lack of ability or ideal life circumstance. As God has said, "Those who honor me I will honor," (1 Samuel 2:30) and "seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well." (Matthew 6:33)

I shared the following story of a fellow tri-athlete to end my sermon. If anyone had the right to be discouraged his own inadequacies or to despair at life circumstances beyond his control, it was this young man. And yet, because he kept his focus on who his father was, he was able to accomplish some extraordinary things... (watch the video. It's worth it.)



Aren't we just like Rick? We're called to run a race to help others around us, but we're so broken and helpless ourselves. And if we focus on our own helplessness, we will inevitably fail. But when we start to realize who our Father is and set our eyes on Him, we begin to see how little is dependent on us. As Paul says in Philippians 4:13, "I can do all things through him who gives me strength." And as Isaiah 26:12 says, "everything we have accomplished you (God) have done for us."

Hebrews 12:1-2 says, "let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith..."

Let us fix our eyes on him, and let us run the race.
APK