In the Race to Win

In the past couple of months most of my family has been watching the Amazing Race. If you’ve never seen it, pairs of competitors race around the world, picking up clues and instructions as they go. Each week the last one who makes it onto the pitstop mat is usually eliminated. The first pair over to the last mat at the finale wins 1 million dollars. The race is exciting, stressful, and fast and it’s fun to watch how each pair reacts to the jet lag, lack of proper food and sleep, and how well they follow the instructions. All with that million dollar prize being dangled in front of their noses.

I, too, am running a race. It is not run around a track, or around a city or even around the world. But it is a most important race. And with the most ultimate of prizes. Way better than a million bucks.

But how am I running this race? Am I focused? Am I following the instructions left to me by the one who created this race? Am I picking up the clues? In Hebrews 12:1-3, the Bible gives us several clues, huge clues how to run this race of life.

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, 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, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider Him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

Clue #1 tells us to lay aside everything that would hinder us and those sins that tend to entangle us. Are there things we are hanging onto with all our mights that we just can’t or don’t want to give up. Yet deep down we know it’s slowing us down in our Christian walk? God tells us to throw it off. And He is there to help us do it.

Clue #2 tells us to run with perseverance. Don’t give up. Keep going. Run with everything you’ve got right to the end. Even when you might get distracted or trip or actually fall down, allow God to pick you, forgive you, brush you off and then get right back in the race.

Clue #3 tells us to fix our eyes on Jesus. To fix your eyes on something means you don’t take your eyes off of it. You don’t look around, you don’t look down. You keep your eyes on Jesus, who is the author and the one perfecting your faith in you.

Clue #4 tells us to consider Him and that He endured great opposition. Are you discouraged, beaten down, facing opposition all around? Consider the opposition that Christ endured. Allow the Lord to encourage you and lift you up, so that will not grow weary or lose heart.

Now that you have the clues, run with all your might! And what is the prize that you are running for? It is not an earthly prize of a million dollars but something of far greater worth. The prize according to I Corinthians 9:25b is:

They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever.

The first part of the verse speaks of the earthly, natural runner in a race, the last part speaks of the Christian running the race. What a prize. The natural prize will only be good in this lifetime, the one God has for us at the end of the race will last forever.

We’ve got our clues, let us run with all our might. The prize is oh, so valuable, in this Amazing Race that we’ve been called to run.