Your race can be Amazing!

Last weekend was all about racing for me.  I went to the drag races because it was the last races they were holding at the drag strip before it closes.  And then I spent Sunday evening watching one of my favorite shows "The Amazing Race".

The Amazing Race

I was reminded that we are all in a race.  Sometimes the race can get hard.  Obstacles get in the way.  Sometimes we take on heavy loads.  (On one episode the contestants had to haul a huge bag of hay and an unruly goat.)  Some runners want to give up when the race gets hard, but we must keep running with our eye on the prize.  For us, that means, following after Christ. 

1Cor.9:24  NIV

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.

One of my favorite episodes of  "The Amazing Race" involved a giant slingshot and a watermelon.  The contestant was to use the giant slingshot to launch a watermelon and knock over a suit of armor.  They had been airing a teaser for the show for weeks.  When one team got to this "Roadblock" in the race, they struggled, but they weren't giving up.  On one of many attempts to launch the watermelon, it reversed direction and hit the woman right in the face.  It knocked her down and she lost feeling in her face.  I think I may have quit at this point, but she kept her eye on the prize (half a million dollars) and they made it to the pit stop without being eliminated.  (I'm adding the YouTube video below)

Sometimes the race can knock you down, make you numb, or leave you battered and bruised.  We have to put aside everything that would try to hinder us. We have to have endurance. Other people run have run this race, others are still running it, and some are running at the same pace we are.  That should be encouraging for us.
Heb.12:1-2  ESV
Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.


And even if we do get tripped up at times (or hit with a big watermelon), we need to keep pressing on toward the goal because there is a finish line before us.
Phil 3:14  ESV
I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

So the best we can do is run the race, stay focused on the goal, fight the good fight and make sure we finish our race. You have probably heard the statement, "It is not how you start the race, but how you finish". It is never too late to start, and we can finish strong for Jesus.  Your race can be amazing.  We may not win a half a million dollars for our race, but our prize is much greater. 
2Tim.4:7 ESV
I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.