In This Race We All Win

In this race, we all win! What a revelation I had yesterday during our discussion on Slack not your riding! 

We all agree that we are running a race. The race is called life. For us, it’s our Christian life, the journey of being born of the flesh and then being born again by or through the Holy Spirit. It’s where we are transformed by God’s grace and guided by faith into a new life in Christ.

In the natural, and so too in the spiritual, in this grand race of life, we have some short races, we have some longer races, we have relays, and there are some marathons.

One common goal for the participants in these races, men, women, boys, girls, is that they want to win. And according to the world’s standards, it’s either first, second or third place in order to get a gold, silver or bronze medal. Everyone else coming after that, well, they are not considered winners, especially the person who brings up the rear.

But I am so glad that as Christians we have been liberated from that thinking.

For our Bible tells us that in this race called life, once we endure to the end, we all win. Hallelujah.

1 Corinthians 9:24-27 Message version “You’ve all been to the stadium and seen the athletes race. Everyone runs; one wins. Run to win. All good athletes train hard. They do it for a gold medal that tarnishes and fades. You’re after one that’s gold eternally. I don’t know about you, but I’m running hard for the finish line. I’m giving it everything I’ve got. No lazy living for me! I’m staying alert and in top condition. I’m not going to get caught napping, telling everyone else all about it and then missing out myself.”

So what is the race where we all win? That race where we are faithful to persevere to the finish line. That race that we run with purpose and self discipline, striving for the eternal reward of heaven at last. 

This is a race that everyone can enter and everyone can win. 

So if you’re living this life, running the race, and always feel defeated, you have to reexamine your strategy. We cannot look at the other participants as competitors.

Hebrews 12:1-3 tells us “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!”

We are reminded that the race is about letting go and letting God be our trainer so to speak. This race is about letting go of the burdens we are carrying that God said to give to Him for Him to take care of for us. This race is about developing and maintaining faith in and keeping the focus on Jesus, the ultimate example.

This is a race Family, where we cannot get big headed and think that we have done the work and so I deserve the win. It’s not about how much money you have, how philanthropic you’ve been, or how popular you are. Remember now, works alone will not make you win the prize.

Ephesians 2: 7-10 “Now God has us where he wants us, with all the time in this world and the next to shower grace and kindness upon us in Christ Jesus. Saving is all his idea, and all his work. All we do is trust him enough to let him do it. It’s God’s gift from start to finish! We don’t play the major role. If we did, we’d probably go around bragging that we’d done the whole thing! No, we neither make nor save ourselves. God does both the making and saving. He creates each of us by Christ Jesus to join him in the work he does, the good work he has gotten ready for us to do, work we had better be doing.”

So yes we have to work, but that’s not all. We have to continue to run, we have to continue the pressing, we have to keep it moving, doing the right thing, answering the call of God on our lives, in order for us to gain the ultimate prize. And this is something each and everyone of us can achieve, once we stay focused and endure to the end.

Philippians 3:12-16 “I’m not saying that I have this all together, that I have it made. But I am well on my way, reaching out for Christ, who has so wondrously reached out for me. Friends, don’t get me wrong: By no means do I count myself an expert in all of this, but I’ve got my eye on the goal, where God is beckoning us onward—to Jesus. I’m off and running, and I’m not turning back. So let’s keep focused on that goal, those of us who want everything God has for us. If any of you have something else in mind, something less than total commitment, God will clear your blurred vision—you’ll see it yet! Now that we’re on the right track, let’s stay on it.”

So what I am understanding, is that this race of our Christian life is not at all about competing against one other. That’s where you find infighting and confusion in the Body of Christ. 

Someone starts a ministry and it is doing well, or someone is serving efficiently and consistently in the church, and someone else comes along and starts sowing seeds of discord, instead of seeing this as an avenue to support the work of the Lord.

I’ve experienced it here at ZJoyVI and I’ve seen it and heard of it in other ministries or churches. It is pathetic!

But today, we are reminded that this race of our Christian life, Family, is not about competition, but it is an individual journey that we must run and run well. We are called to support one another as we labour in the vineyard of the Lord.

You, me, each of us, must be steadfast in our purpose to be faithful to our God-given calling and persevere through the odds til the very end. 

In doing so, we will all be winners. 

So let us be dedicated athletes for the Lord, relying on His grace to get us to the finish line. 

What is the finish line? Eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord. Hallelujah.

The gold medal, victory in this Christian race, is not given or limited to one person who ran the fastest according to world standards. The reward that God has is for all of His children and will be given to all who endure and remain faithful to Him until Jesus returns.

So don’t give up my brother. Don’t give up my Sisters. We are alive today and we still have the opportunity to finish the race and not only that, each of us can win!

aub - 29 August 2024

www.zjoyvi.com