The Race That Counts Isn’t In The Olympics

So... are you as tired as I am? Have you been staying up late each night waiting vigilantly for that certain Olympic race or event? Have you enjoyed watching these Olympics? I have. It has been wonderful seeing Michael Phelps break record after record in all of his swimming events. I especially loved the 4 x 100 relay when the United States team came from behind in the last seconds to barely edge out the French team. (The fact that the French swimmers talked trash before the race made the USA’s victory that much sweeter.) I can hardly remember the last time jumped out of the chair and screamed at the television for anything that didn’t involve a football. The cool part was that I knew millions of other Americans were jumping up and screaming too (including my son)! Other nights we have marveled at everything from gymnastics to volleyball.
For whatever reason, these games have been better than most. But the Bible tells us of another more important race. 2 Timothy 4:6 says “This is the only race worth running. I've run hard right to the finish, believed all the way. All that's left now is the shouting—God's applause! Depend on it, he's an honest judge. He'll do right not only by me, but by everyone eager for his coming.”
But what does it mean to run a race for Christ? How do we… how should we… how can we? Life itself is the race. Our confusion lies in our opponent. Who we are pitted against? Most of the time we think our opponents are our other brothers and sisters. It begins early with competitive contests against others for grades, sports victories; power, beauty, prestige, and money to only name a few. We are deceived by our real opponent, the Evil One, Satan! He is our opponent and his desire is to use each of us and our brothers and sisters to serve his purposes. When we oppress, judge, hurt, and ridicule other people, we unwittingly serve Satan and not Christ. It happens in the secular world and it certainly happens in the churches across our land.
Our victory is in Christ and Christ alone. It is not in our behavior, our goodness, but only in our forgiveness. And Christ stands ready to forgive and restore. Our race is to outwit and outmaneuver Satan in such a way to honor God and seek God’s will in our lives and in our service to others. The race is a life-long spiritual journey to walk each day with God and lean totally upon God and God’s wisdom. You can begin to hear God’s voice each and every day in your life. God does not only speak to people of the Bible certain people today, but God desires to speak directly to you. Really!
Hebrews 12 describes it like this, “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!” Jesus finished His race and so can you. You are called to run against Satan and his lies about life, especially lies about your abilities and value to God. Your relationship with God is your very life-line to eternal victory. Satan will attack you and try to sell you a counterfeit faith, be on your guard. God wants people to be His disciples not just members of the church. Disciples read their Bible, pray, and live in community so they can know God in such an intimate way that each day they are certain their lives (their race) are headed for the victory stand next to God… to win a prize more precious than gold! (P.S. You do realize that our particular race is a three-legged race and we can only win when Jesus is our partner! But you probably already knew that.)