Let me tell you about a race... a race that is so much more profound than winning the gold medal in the Rio 2016 Olympic games… a race that won’t just give you a small piece of gold, but rather take you to a place where the streets will be made of gold.
Let me tell you about a place you can go one day; not only can you go there, but you can LIVE there forever and ever and ever and ever. This place is being prepared for those who succeed in this race.
Paul wrote to the church at Corinth in 1 Corinthians 9:24-25 (NKJV), “Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it. And everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown.”
We are running a day-by-day race for an imperishable crown, and we don’t know exactly when the race is going to end. However, we do know that one day it is going to end, and we will be judged, not on how fast we ran, but how WELL we ran. We will be judged by the Standard — The Word of God, the instructions that Jesus left for us to follow.
As Paul is getting close to the end of his life, he wrote to Timothy in 2 Timothy 4:7-8 (NKJV), “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing.”
If we will just keep fighting, keep running and keep trusting, we will get to wear our crown of righteousness, walk those streets of gold and be in the presence of our Father — the Creator of the Universe.
The Christian Race is much more important than the Olympics and all of their races. Perform well. Be as much like Christ as you can be. Stay in the Word because that is the Book you will be judged by one day. Follow it.
This race is just a day-by-day battle. Just make it through today, because we aren’t promised tomorrow. If we do wake up tomorrow, just make it through tomorrow. Just make it through today. Serving the Lord today and living in Heaven forever means much more than winning the gold.
