The Race..........

     So much work has gone into it. The time spent in the preparation. The purchasing of equipment. Have you ever been to a barrel race? Three barrels set up in an arena so that a horse and rider can make a clover leaf pattern. They have a laser timer set up to clock each run so we can determine the fastest time around the pattern. Do you have the right horse? Can the rider get with the horse? There are so many questions and so many variables. However, the right rider and the right horse will work very diligently to be ready for that moment, The Race. There is nothing no more disappointing than to go through all that hard work and not be ready for the race.
     What about you? Are you ready for the race? In the book of Hebrews, we are challenged to run the race without hindrances. We are to lay aside those items that encumber us. Wait a minute you say. Hold the farm. What race are you talking about? The Race of all races. The race for the cause of Christ. The race to take the gospel to our neighborhood, to our world. Have you been preparing? If not, what is the thing that sin that easily besets you? What is it that has such a grip on you that it hinders you from even joining in on the race much less running it with success.
     Oh that race, I have ran in that race before. I tried to run in it but my legs got tired. I gave it my best shot but I lost my breath and I just couldn't keep going. I was in a crowd and my shoe came untied. I was trying to run along side some people I thought were good and we bumped elbows so I just gave up. May I suggest it was not the legs, the shoe strings, nor even the knocking of elbows that caused you to get out of the race. It was your heart. When your heart isn't in it, you look for reasons to quit or to get out. You didn't have the passion for it.
     I want to encourage you to allow your heart to regain its vigor toward what it the most important race you will ever run in. In order to do so, you have to get prepared. It takes time to be ready. You don't just walk out of the house one day and take off running. You have to prepare. You must spend time in God's word. You must be in a spirit of prayer and communicate with the very God of this universe. You must be consumed with His mission of reaching the lost for Christ. It doesn't take long at a barrel race to know who has spent time during the week with their horse. You find out who has practiced and had worked on that moment when their name is called. The Christian race is the same. You can tell who has spent time with God or to whom it is only a passing phase.
     Some people run as a hobby while others run for a race. They run so they can win a race. Is your run for Christ a hobby or is it truly a race? The shoes are different. The clothes are different. You can tell who just wants to run for themselves or who is running for a greater cause or purpose. Hobby or Race? Hebrews 12:1, " Let us run the Race with endurance the rest that has been set before us, looking unto Jesus the author and the perfecter of our faith"

I am John Sowders and I am Second...!!!