Previous Challenge Entry (Level 1 – Beginner)
Topic: Sport or Fitness (02/15/07)
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TITLE: Calling All Runners�take your marks | Previous Challenge Entry
By Angela Logsdon
02/18/07 -
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I remember it as if it were yesterday and not twenty four years ago. I still feel the tension in the pit of my stomach, clammy hands, and hear footsteps as they strike the ground. My lungs ache with each remembered breath I took on that electrified night. That race is forever etched into my memory. It was a calm clear night in Nashville, Tennessee. The stadium lights glowed with magic as it dispersed its illumination on all who entered its gates. The State Championships would determine who was the fastest and strongest. I was filled with excitement, like I owned the world and for one brief moment, I did.
As I reflect on my career as a runner, I’m reminded of several scripture passages that speak to life as a race. Hebrews 12:1 “Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us.” Do you ever wonder why runners strip down to almost nothing? Have you seen those uniforms today? The reason is simple, like the scripture says, “lay aside every weight,” by taking off the heavy clothing it lightens the load to be carried. The lighter you are the faster you go; the less sin in your life the easier the race. Sin is heavy and cumbersome, weighing us down, making each step harder to take.
The great cloud of witnesses brings to mind not just people filling a stadium, but Angels and Christians who have already reached heaven, who like the stadium fans stand and cheer us on during our race. They are routing for us to not only finish, but to finish strong the race that God sets before each of us.
Habakkuk 2:2 “… Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it.” God writes a vision, a plan on each heart that belongs to him. It is clear to the believer and can not be confused with some other plan set in motion. God’s plan is simple and he gives the ability to follow where he leads.
1 Corinthians 9:24 “Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain.” Not everyone can cross the finish line first, some are faster than others, but each runner strives for first place. The great news is that in our Christian race every person can obtain a prize. The greatest prize there ever was is salvation and reaching the gates of heaven is our finish line. It does not even matter in which order you reach it, just so long as you do reach it. There we will all run on streets of gold. I don’t know about you, but that’s the kind of award I want!
*Scripture passages taken from KJV.
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