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.

Eyes on Eagles

Look just above the center for an eagle watching for fish in the river below.

Because our town’s riverfront park sits at the confluence of two rivers, it’s good fishing territory for sharp-eyed bald eagles. They sit in the winter-blackened skeletons of huge shoreline trees, their white heads crowning their dark bodies.The eagle’s status (and protection) as the national bird makes a sighting a special moment. I’m glad that Benjamin Franklin failed in his 1776-1782 campaign to make the turkey the national bird. Turkeys? He argued they’re native to America, and though a bit silly, actually very courageous and smart. One researcher claims 50 different signals exist among their gobbles, clucks, cackling, yelps and purrs.

Yet the Bible accords a lot of symbolic honor to eagles. Thirty-two scripture verses refer to eagles by name, others by inference. Among them:
He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust. (Psalm 91:4 KJV)
But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint. (Isaiah 40:31 KJV)
Like an eagle that stirs up its nest and hovers over its young, that spreads its wings to catch them and carries them on its pinions, The Lord alone led him; no foreign god was with him. He made him ride on the heights of the land… (Deuteronomy 32:11-13 NIV).

The symbolism of the Deuteronomy passage struck me when I learned something about the parenting practices of eagles. They begin building their nests (eyries) with a foundation of large sticks, thorns and odds-and-ends. Then come smaller sticks, grasses and twigs. Finally, just before the female lays her eggs, the eagles pluck their own feathers for a soft nest lining. The chicks hatch weighing just ounces. By three months, feathers have replaced their down and they’re ready for their first attempts at flying. The parent encourages its chick to try its wings by cutting back on food deliveries. The adult eagles may fly by with a yummy rabbit carcass, but not dump it in the nest for easy snacking. The parents also start throwing out the soft nest linings so the chicks find the nest increasingly uncomfortable. As the chicks continue growing, life in the nest gets crowded. Their only hope of relief is to try to fly. If they flounder on those first learning flights, a parent is right there to catch them. That’s the picture behind verse 11 (“spreads its wings to catch them”).

What a powerful analogy to human parenting! We nurture our children, and then make the nest “uncomfortable” as we nudge them toward independence. They may tumble a bit at first, but we’re not to hover forever and keep them from the rights and responsibilities of adulthood.

And what a picture of God’s amazing care for us! As we mature in the faith and step away from our immature comfort zones, He’s there to help us rise to new heights—to run and not be weary (Isaiah 40:31).

(For more eagle analogies, check out this article: http://www.ucg.org/christian-living/under-eagles-wings/ )