Good morning. As I have mentioned previously, one of the benefits of growing up in a small town, and therefore attending a very small school, is that the only test for participation in sports was the desire to do so. As long as a person was basically ambulatory, you had a place on the team.
This was especially true of the track and field team. The track coach could be seen in March begging the wary young students, hoping to convince a few of the joy of running in circles, attempting to press them into service for the one sport that did not have any fans. That’s right, none. Not even parents turned out to watch their kids run, jump, and throw things on cold Spring days.
One of the track and field events that I always admired but never attempted was the high-hurdles event. I could run the distances without a problem, but to do so while jumping over obstacles seemed a little too much to ask.
The apostle Paul spoke of his life in Christ, using the image of running a race as a metaphor for living the Christian life with greater purpose. We read this in 1 Corinthians 9:19-24
For though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win more of them. To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though not being myself under the law) that I might win those under the law. To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (not being outside the law of God but under the law of Christ) that I might win those outside the law. To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some. I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings. Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it.
Paul wasn’t suggesting that he was a person without convictions, far from it. What he said was that there was no obstacle too great to dissuade him from giving his best effort to present the Good News of Jesus Christ effectively. For Paul, living the Christian life was like running the high-hurdles. The obstacles were there, another one always coming at him, but he wouldn’t let such things slow him down or stop him. “The race” as he puts it, which is the cause of sharing the message of salvation in Jesus Christ our Lord, was all that mattered.
Paul ran the race with love. His love of every person who needed to know the truth of Jesus motivated him through the trials, the hurdles, which he faced every day.
Consider for a moment who it is in your life that you have tried desperately to share the Good News of Jesus Christ. Have you become frustrated by the obstacles? Hey, they are all a part of the race.
Never give up, and never give in. Yes, there are obstacles but the prize of having that person who is important to you at God’s side through eternity is worth the effort!
Vern