RUNNING LIFE'S REAL RACE

My town's high school track (now fenced, I presume, to prevent vandalism) has served generations of students and local “walkers” who made their way around its red oval. It's no surprise that running has been around for a long time as a competitive sport. Nor that the Bible used that skill and sport to illustrate spiritual principles, like perseverance, faith, and the Christian journey. Among them:

RUN YOUR ABSOLUTE BEST. Of course getting first place is “the best,” but there's also an honorable goal called “your personal best.” Not everybody can stand on the top podium at awards time, but a race means you run. Thus the apostle Paul observed: “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” (1 Cor. 9:24-27).

FORGET—BUT DON'T FORGET—THE WATCHING CROWD. Yes, I know that seems to contradict itself. The watching, cheering crowd send energy and determination into our performance. They want to see us do our best. And when I read Hebrews 12:2, I think of more than just the spectators at an athletic event. Instead, in the great Race of Life, we're representing family—that on earth and that in heaven: “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out of us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith.”

RESIST DISTRACTIONS. It's easy to get sidetracked when you look off to the crowd. “Where are mom and dad? Where's my girlfriend/boyfriend/best friend?” Or, moral choices, like: “That little sin won't make a difference. Who will know? Who will see?” But God sees it all, allowing us in His wisdom to make stupid choices. Galatians 5:7 speaks to this: “You were running well. Who hindered you from obeying the truth?”

SEEK THE ENDURANCE GOD CAN SUPPLY. Those who run to win somehow reach deep inside to do better than their former best. “They who wait upon the Lord,” begins Isaiah 40:31, “shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles.” The movie industry gave us a picture of that in re-enacting the 1924 Paris Olympics run of Scotsman Eric Liddell, portrayed in the 1981 film “Chariots of Fire.” He'd trained for the 100-meter race, but before race day learned its heats would be held on a Sunday. A devout Christian, Liddell refused to compete on the Lord's Day. Instead, he signed for the 400-meter race—far more grueling. Yet, he won, with an Olympic record. And then, he retired from Olympics training to become a missionary in China.

Years later, while in China, someone asked if he regretted not making another try for Olympics fame. He replied: “It's natural for a chap to think over all that sometimes, but I'm glad I'm at the work I'm engaged in now. A fellow's life counts for far more at this than the other.” He would die in his 43^rd year of an undiagnosed brain tumor. But his testimony of honoring Christ in life's Real Race still inspires.