It's beautiful this morning.  Slight breeze, somewhat cool temps with a little cloud cover.  It's going to be a great day for my seven miler.  Which is a fitting topic for my post today.

Running the Race

Yesterday I was notified that a friend of someone I know casually had passed away of melanoma, deadly skin cancer.  She had fought her battle for the last few years.  What was so amazing about Lana was her dedication to God and ministering to others while she was undergoing treatment and sadly, dying. 

If you read her blog posts, you will see that this was a woman of God who feared nothing but Him.  She was so immersed in Him that to her there was simply no question:  God had a plan for her and that meant she would either survive or die from melanoma.  That was His call.  But she figured that no matter what God had in mind, she was going to glorify Him. 

Here's a link to her and her husband's blogs:

http://web.mac.com/rcf9327/Site/Lanas_Journal/Lanas_Journal.html

A few days ago, Lana's husband, Chad, posted the news of Lana's passing.  He quoted 2 Timothy 4:7, which states, "I have fought the good fight.  I have finished the race, I have kept the faith."  It's obvious Lana fulfilled Paul's words to Timothy, written so long ago, to the fullest, up until just a few days ago. 

Today as I was reading 1 Corinthians 9, I read this verse:

"Do you not know that in a race all runners run, but only one gets the prize?  Run in such a way as to get the prize.  Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training.  They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever.  Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air.  No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.

1 Corinthians 9:24-27. 

Think about that for a moment.  In any athletic competition, specifically a race, why are you running?  Are you running just to say you did it?  Or are you running to win?  Anyone who reads Lana's or Chad's blogs knows that Lana was running to win the race, to get a crown that will last forever.  She is with the Father now, wearing that crown.  Chad is obviously still running to win, just as he did with Lana these last few years. 

It's just amazing to me.  I get upset about trivial things and then there are believers like these two who can minister to us so passionately during times of great struggle.  Just like Paul, who wrote all of the above verses.  He was a man that was imprisoned and according to history, beheaded for believing and spreading the Word.  Yet he continued to do it, running to win, making his body his slave.

In about two months my wife and I will be running in our first long distance running event.  It's a half-marathon, 13.1 miles.  We have both been training for it for several weeks.  Sometimes it seems as if it will be very difficult to complete the race in terms of effort.  I have no doubt that we will both finish; my question is will we both run the race as if we were running to win?  Will our personal times reflect an all out effort to succeed as close to the top as possible?

In our spiritual lives, are we living for God as if we want to win the ultimate prize?  Are we making daily sacrifices and giving to others and glorifying Him?  To run this half-marathon, we are avoiding tasty junk foods to lower our body weights.  We are getting less sleep to squeeze in early morning or late night runs.  We are spending time reading literature about proper training and diet for a race.  Are we making like efforts and sacrifices for God in our spiritual lives? 

Are we reading our Bible every day and studying and focusing on what we read?  Are we using our knowledge to minister to others?  Are we giving and loving and serving as God commanded?  As Christ taught?  Are we fighting the good fight?  Are we going to finish the race for the prize? 

Are we keeping the faith?

Let us run the race as if we want to win.  Let us run the race as Lana did, and as Chad continues to do.  Just as I will run my hardest in the half-marathon, I will serve the Lord my God.

Until tomorrow...

Come Believe.