Don't Give Up! You're Too Close Now!

I can hear my mother saying, "Baby the race is not given to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, but it's to the one that endures to the end!"  I didn't always understand what she was trying to say, but the older I got it all began to make sense.

 

I would also hear her say, "slow and steady wins the race."  I'm like Mom can you just tell me what you're trying to say without the parable? She would say, "honey it's not how fast you're going, but that you don't give up before the end of the race."

I began to think about the scripture in Hebrews 12 that tells us how to run our race, and shows how the pioneers, and more importantly Jesus blazed the way for us.  The Message translation really breaks down this passage and says: 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!

 

The more I looked at that verse, the more I began to see that starting the race, staying in the race, and finishing the race is not all about me, but about those that are watching and waiting on me to blaze the trail before them.  Jesus was our perfect example in that He endured the cross and despised the shame for our freedom.  Where would we be if Jesus would have quit or given up before going to the cross?  He came into the world knowing that the goal was to redeem sinful man, and with everything that He had to endure He never took His eyes off the goal!  WOW!!! What a selfless and loving God!  He gave his only son Jesus, and Jesus said, "no man take my life from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father.  I am so glad that He endured the cross for you and me!"

Today I want to encourage you to keep your eyes on Jesus as you continue to run the race that is set before you!  Life has an interesting way of showing up with all kinds of distractions to get us off of our course, and to throw in the towel before we get to the finish line, but we must keep on going!  It is our endurance and staying power that will give us the fortitude to not just continue the race and reach our goal, but to Finish Strong! 

Don't forget that fulfilling and completing your God given assignment is not all about you, but those that are divinely connected to you!  What an awesome responsibility and privilege we have to pass the baton, but if we give up before we reach the next runner, we hinder the team from finishing the race.  So again, Don't Give Up! You're Too Close Now!!!

 

I pray that this song blesses you~