Run the race set before you

Running races is not a big priority for me anymore, they were earlier in my life.  There were all sorts of them some I won, some I was not first.  Some were foot races, some were auto races, some were intellectual competitions, some were team races, some were financial, some were very lonely.  Races take on all sorts of different formats.  How would you define your race or races in your life?

Life experience, stage of life, events of society all influence where and how we perceive our current walk (or race).  Sometimes it hard to know which direction or choice to make.  What is the goal?  What am I trying to achieve?  Am I staying true to what I believe (even if I made a bad decision in the past) ??? How do I stay true to my core beliefs?  Do I even really know what my core beliefs are??

Trying to run life's race without defining what or who you are may lead to many unintentional results.  I have seen many people that despite their best intentions end up in broken relationships.  In most cases it was not from lack of effort.  Some of the effort ended up being destructive, some of the effort was affected by personal pride or refusal to change ways.  An example of that is marriages that end up in divorce court.  I have never met anyone who intentionally got married in order to end up getting a divorce, but it does happen quite often.  Maybe we need to take time to see if the path of our decisions, are leading to where we want to end up.

In Galations 5:7 it says " You were running a good race.  Who cut in on you to keep you from knowing the truth...".  We all get tempted by thoughts and actions in life.  We are being challenged every day on "what is the truth".  The questions are coming from every aspect of life.  It is no wonder we are so easily tripped up during the race set before us on any given day.

In Acts 20: 24 it talks of the task of a follower of Jesus is to testify to "good news of God's grace".  In the midst of all our goings and coming in life sometimes it is easy  to let that simple little message God has implanted in our hearts to be nullified.  We get easily swayed into thinking because I have tripped and fallen (bible calls that sin) who am I to tell others of the "good news"????  Look at the mess I am!!!

Yup, that is us.  We are a mess all of own doing, no getting around it.  Not one of us can run the perfect race day in and day out ..... only One has done that.  Then He chose to take all our consequences of all our mud & filth (bible calls that sin) on Himself and pay the full price on the cross (the cross we belonged on).  Why?  Because of God's Grace, God's Love, God's desire for us to be with Him eternally.  That is the "Good News", simply keep remembering it in your life and show it to others as we run the races before us.  See Hebrews 12:1-3 for reminder of the Truth