6For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time for my departure is near. 7I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 8Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the LORD, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day-and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.
Once again I realized why God gives children to the young! For five days we enjoyed having our three grandsons stay with us in a kind of summer vacation VBS. Some advise…don’t ever attempt this without a plan! Since my husband and I are both former teachers, we knew this is a non-negotiable fact. Therefore-we had a plan. Not a fool proof plan, but at least a basic metric of activities to keep three young boys, well, active! I told their Mom’s that my plan was to keep them so busy they tire out and sleep well through the night!
We began each day with a short Bible lesson reminding them that we should love one another, share and help one another-rather that what boys just naturally want to do….hit, kick, wrestle and so forth! We still had some of those ‘breakthrough’ activities, but for the most part, it was a peaceful time.
Since the Olympics had just ended I thought a week full of Olympic based events would be a great way to keep them engaged.
Our opening each morning before the games included a pledge to the flag, respect as we listened to the National Anthem, and a prayer for a safe and enjoyable day. We said the Olympic motto; faster-higher-stronger-together! Then, the games began! Six events were set up in the back yard and each boy was encouraged to compete with himself, improving on his score from the day before. There was improvement in their speed, their agility, and their attitude about the entire Olympic process.
As I watched these three young men doing their best at each event, I began to realize that we all seem to have this spirit within us to be the best we can be. We strive to make improvements and we believe we can do it, if we try hard enough.
The apostle Paul admonished all of us to run the race called Christianity with gusto! Give it all you have and keep your eye on the prize, Heaven! When my grandsons became distracted, they lost the shot, or veered off the course. When they were focused on the ‘bulls eye’, they made it. Let that be a lesson to us every day of our lives. We should not be living haphazard life, come what may attitiude, but live with intent. The intent being to please the Lord and attain the ‘crown of righteousness’ that the Lord has waiting for all who are running the race with the intention to win it!
How about you? Are you running with the goal of winning the crown? Are you running a sloppy race? In the race called your ‘Christian life’, we better not take any chances the cost of loosing is hell.
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