Skip to main content

Just Keep Running



            When 61-year-old potato farmer, Cliff Young, arrived at the starting line wearing overalls and work boots, people wondered if he was lost.  After all, he was standing among a group of elite, young athletes who were about to run the 875 kilometers (544 miles) from Sydney to Melbourne, Australia.  Young was not lost, though.  In fact, he was about to do something incredible.
            Almost as soon as the gun sounded, Young was behind.  He ran with a very slow, loping pace that made observers think that he could not last for more than an hour.  Mile after mile, though, he just kept running.  Near the end of the first day, when the other competitors stopped for the night, Young kept running. The next day, he found himself with the leaders again and, by the end of day two, after running most of the night again, he was in the lead.
In the end, only 6 runners completed the entire distance, with Young ahead of them all.  Incredibly, his time of five days, fifteen hours and four minutes beat the previous best time by almost two full days!
            After the race, Young told reporters that he often rounded up his sheep by chasing them around the field.  In fact, he claimed that he would sometimes run for two or three days straight before he got them all where he wanted them.  He did not have to “train” for the run, because running was “part of his nature”.
            When I read that story, I immediately thought of Hebrews 12 which 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… so that you will not grow weary and lose heart” (verses 1-3).
Jesus’ death on the cross took care of our sin.  He paid the debt that we simply could not pay (see Titus 3:3-8). 
            Our job is to accept that gift and then “run with perseverance”.  We need to confess our sins and “throw them off”, so that we are not slowed down and hindered.  We need to keep our eyes on Jesus and on our goal of heaven so that we do not “grow weary and lose heart”.
            As Cliff Young showed, you do not have to be the youngest, the best or even the quickest.  Sometimes victory comes to those who get in the race and simply keep running.
            “Run in such a way as to get the prize” (1 Corinthians 9:23).

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Art of Noticing.... Seeing what we need to see and what we miss when we don't

 What we focus on in life matters. Here are some scriptural reminders that will help us see correctly.  https://youtu.be/Rn76tV0ZH8s    
Post a Comment
Read more

Consider This: What is so Great About Grace?

If you were to drive by our house, you would see that Sara loves plants.  Our yard is full of flowers, and Sara lovingly tends every one of them. Which is why I was so afraid when she left town and put me in charge of keeping things alive. She must have been a little concerned, too, because she sent me two videos with specific instructions on how to water, when to water, and what to do.  Honestly, those first two videos helped, but the third one she sent was the one I liked most.  In that one, she said, “Please do your best. I want the yard to look good for the family reunion in two weeks.  However, if something dies, we will dig it out and pretend that it never existed!” That is what grace looks like!  Try your best, do what you can, but if it goes wrong, it will be ok. Sometimes we talk as though grace and effort are opposites.  That is not true.  They are partners. In one place, scripture asks, “What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone c...
Post a Comment
Read more

Consider This: Press The Button!

  Consider This:  Press the Button! My favourite TV game show is Jeopardy.  I used to like it even more when my kids were younger, because I could easily beat them and look smart.  These days, after they have grown up and gone to university, it is much more difficult.  However, Jeopardy is still the only game show I will watch. In a book I read, a contestant who did very well on the show shared the secret to his success.  He said (and I am paraphrasing here), “You must press the button before you know the answer.  Everyone on Jeopardy is smart. Everyone knows the answer. The key to winning is to act.  You must jump in and press the button, assuming that your brain will catch up and supply the answer.  If you wait until you are sure, you will be too late!” Press the button! Too often, we hesitate, not because we do not know what to do, but because we do not want to do it.  Sometimes, we fail to act because we are not sure how the situatio...
Post a Comment
Read more