Run Your Own Race Well  

I have a couple of grandsons who are on the cross-country team representing their school. After their latest race, I inquired of my daughter as to how the boys did. She said that they ran well. As she provided more details about her assessment of their performance, she didn’t focus on what place they finished in comparison to the other runners. Instead, she talked about how they did in relation to their PR, or personal record. She thought they did well because both of them were very close to matching the best times they have ever posted in such a race. Yes, it is good to finish ahead of other runners, but it is also important that you run well and keep improving no matter what the others around you do.

The same could be said about other areas of life, including our walk with Christ. We shouldn’t look at it primarily as a competition with others or fall into the trap of playing the comparison game. Certainly, we can look to others as examples we can follow. Paul told some people to “imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ” (I Corinthians 11:1). Additionally, there are those whose negative examples we can learn from. In the previous chapter Paul had mentioned the bad behavior of the Israelites when they were in the wilderness. He declared that they were intended to be our examples of what not to do. So we can learn, both positively and negatively, from the way others live their lives in relation to God.

However, we shouldn’t evaluate our spiritual lives based on others. We are all different. We have each begun our race under different circumstances and at various starting points. Some may have had advantages in their family and church environments leading up to their faith in Christ that others lacked. Furthermore, we are all blessed with differing gifts, abilities, and personalities. It can be difficult to draw comparisons with others, and doing so may even be a detriment to our running well. We can get focused on trying to be like someone else when God intends for us to be quite different in some ways.

The point is that we need to run our race well, not try to run anyone else’s race. We each have been given a specific course to run and particular abilities to use in doing so. Yours are different from mine. Don’t focus primarily on being like someone else, but more on being your best for the Lord. Yes, there are certain characteristics we should all be seeking to attain. We should all be striving to be more like Jesus and allowing Him to so work in us that the fruit of the Spirit will be increasingly evident in our lives. We all should be running to serve Christ, be lights in a dark world, and make disciples of others. Nevertheless, the way I run my race will not be exactly like the way you run yours. We each need to be pressing on to achieve our PR, our personal record. We need to be growing and making progress in our relationship with Jesus, in becoming a more holy person, and in the work we do for the Lord. No matter what others may or may not do, am I running my race well? Am I making strides forward in my spiritual growth? Am I improving in my service to Christ? I may not be where someone else is, but that person may have gotten a head start or he may be unnecessarily lagging behind. Where am I in relation to where God wants me to be and where He can enable me to go?

So let’s each “press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:14).   

 

Pay Attention to the Little Warning Signs  

As I cranked my car, something didn’t sound quite right. In that brief second before the engine started, it sounded like it was struggling to get enough power to turn it over. Was it just my imagination? Over the next day or so, I made certain to listen more intently every time I turned the key in my vehicle. It definitely sounded like it could be getting close to a point of not cranking. Having been in situations before where I was stuck somewhere with a dead battery, I decided to go ahead and get it checked out. Sure enough, I was right. The battery was almost dead and needed to be replaced. For someone mechanically-challenged, I was thankful I had paid attention to the little warning signs and got the issue remedied before I faced the possibility of being unexpectedly stranded somewhere.

Likewise, when our relationship with the Lord is suffering in some way, there are often indications of a problem if we would just pay attention to them. Maybe I seem to be more impatient with people and quicker to lose my temper. Or I find myself not being as firm to resist temptation as I should be. Maybe I am starting to isolate myself and be more selfish about certain things. Or it may be that I find myself starting to view church attendance and personal devotional times more as burdensome duties than as a wonderful privilege that I enjoy. Or maybe I am just finding it more difficult to fit the things of God into my busy schedule. My burden for lost souls isn’t as deep. My prayer life seems to be degenerating into repeating meaningless phrases rather than a time of meaningful worship and fellowship. Sometimes it may just be a little feeling deep in my soul. Nobody else might notice it, but I sense that something simply isn’t clicking like it should be in my spiritual life. My love for the Lord, and consequently my love for other people, seem to be growing a little colder.

We haven’t turned our backs on God. Our spiritual battery hasn’t died out, at least not yet. We are still active in many of the spiritual disciplines we practice. We may still be busy driving down that highway of serving God in various ways. However, we see the little warning signs. Our spiritual life and power seem to be waning. It is more of a struggle to get our engine started. We sense a need for personal revival.

It can be tempting to ignore such signs. We tell ourselves that maybe it is nothing to be concerned about. However, if we don’t take care of the problem now, we may well find ourselves taking a bigger fall down the road. Therefore now is the time to seek God more diligently, to pray for Him to show us our specific need, and to yield ourselves more fully to Him. Take your issue to the Master Mechanic who made us and who can help us get back to functioning the way we were meant to.

Someone else driving my car may not have noticed anything wrong with it. However, I was familiar enough with my vehicle that I knew something didn’t sound as it should. Hopefully, you know how your heart and soul functions when you are walking close to the Lord. You know how your engine sounds when you are running in harmony with God’s will for your life and when the oil of the Holy Spirit is providing the power to help you serve effectively. Pay attention if something doesn’t seem quite right. Don’t put it off. Take it to the Lord. Trust Him to diagnose the problem and to help you get back on track.

 

Love Others Enough to Tell Them the Truth  

Some of our elderly political leaders have shown signs of apparent physical and mental frailties during recent public events. These occurrences have resulted in questions being raised about age limits or term limits for our elected representatives. It makes you wonder if there aren’t those around these individuals who would lovingly confront them with the truth about their situation, encouraging them to accept the fact that it may be time to step back from their positions, or at least to refrain from seeking reelection. Many are probably afraid to broach such a sensitive subject with people or don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings. However, wouldn’t it be a greater act of love, as well as better for our country, to help such persons come to terms with the truth rather than enabling them to keep denying reality while putting themselves in embarrassing situations?  

 The same holds true when it comes to spiritual frailties. Some people seem to think that love means refusing to point out to others when they have strayed from the path of God’s will. They view love as affirming others, even if those individuals have become confused or are willfully ignoring the truth. Is it loving to ignore ways of thinking and behavior that put people at odds with what God has revealed in His Word to be the truth? Is it loving to encourage people to live in ways that result in their missing out on God’s better plan for their lives, as well as what could eventually end in eternal separation from their Maker?   

Granted, we need to be careful and prayerful in how we confront others. Unfortunately, there are those who do it in harsh ways and with a more condemning, self-righteous attitude rather than with a loving, humble, redemptive spirit. Nevertheless, love doesn’t stand idly by while people are traveling down a road leading toward heartache and destruction. It warns them and encourages them to change direction.  

The Bible tells us of an occasion when ungodly King Ahab was going out to battle (See I Kings 22). He gathered a bunch of prophets to tell him exactly what he wanted to hear – prophesying of success and victory. However, he was resistant about bringing in one particular prophet who spoke the true word of the Lord. In Ahab’s words, “I hate him, because he does not prophesy good concerning me, but evil.” God’s prophet ended up confronting Ahab with the truth, including foretelling his defeat and death.

The truth can be painful. However, that doesn’t mean we don’t need to hear it and take it to heart. Too many today are like Ahab. They listen only to those voices who agree with them, who affirm their sinful behavior, and who tell them what they want to hear. And they hate those who dare to assert the truth about what God actually says in His Word about certain matters.

Romans 1:16-32 describes the moral decline of a society. Unfortunately, it sounds all too much like our own world today. This passage ends by describing all kinds of immorality, closing with this indictment on the people involved in it: “who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them” (Romans 1:32).

We live in a time when individuals, society, and religious leaders are guilty of not only practicing such immorality, but affirming those who do so. They often do it in the name of love, even in the name of a God of love. However, real love will tell people the truth and warn them about the need to turn from their sin.

Who needs you to love them enough to help them face reality?

 

There Is Either Truth or Consequences  

Many of us were saddened to hear of the recent death of iconic TV host Bob Barker. Most people remember him solely from his longtime duties on the game show The Price Is Right. However, a few of us are old enough to recall his roles in previous programs. One of those was entitled Truth or Consequences. I can’t tell you much at all about the show. All I remember is that as a youngster I enjoyed watching it regularly, and part of that pleasure was due to its congenial host.

The title of that show brings up an issue that we would do well to remember in our day. There is truth. And if we refuse to believe it, receive it, and live according to it, there will be consequences for us to face. The truth is found in Jesus, who declared that He was the truth (John 14:6), as well as in the entirety of God’s word which is also clearly stated to be the truth (John 17:17; Psalm 119:160).

God plainly confronted the people of Israel with this principle about truth and the consequences of ignoring it. He promised them blessings if they chose to accept the truth He had revealed to them and live in obedience to it. At the same time, He warned them that there would be severe repercussions if they turned away from the truth and decided to disobey His commandments. The Old Testament provides a history of how that promise was proven true again and again. That principle also carries over into the New Testament. Those who receive Jesus and the truth are blessed with eternal life. Those who reject Him and the truth are condemned. Yes, a loving God does condemn sin. Out of His love and grace, He has made a way for us to avoid the consequences, but again we must believe and receive the truth in order to experience His gracious deliverance.

  Individuals and our society as a whole today are having to deal with the consequences of rejecting the truth. People wonder why they are so unhappy, angry, and unfulfilled. They don’t understand why their lives are in such a mess. Likewise, our society seeks answers to the growing problems we are facing today, such as violence, lawlessness, and the various outcroppings of hatred. The roots of many of our personal and societal ills can be traced back to the simple fact that we have chosen to snub the truth. In some cases, we deny truth in general or we make it totally subjective by referring to “your truth” or “my truth” instead of “the truth”. In other cases, people have flatly rejected some of the specific truths God has revealed, or they reinterpret His words in order to make them fit their own views.

There are ministers today who need to be reminded that there are consequences to rejecting the truth of God’s Word. They deceive people with their mishandling of the scriptures while accusing those who adhere to its clear teachings as the ones who are twisting its message. The Bible indicates that those who are in such positions of leadership who lead others astray through their deceptive teachings will have to face greater condemnatory consequences than others. That fact shouldn’t be declared with a self-righteous smile on our faces but rather with a mournful tear in our eye. We should be prayerfully burdened for individuals, for our society, for our nation, and for a church and its ministers who have turned away from the truth.

Let’s be committed to the truth – the truth revealed in Jesus and in the whole of scripture. If we ignore it or reject it, there will be consequences, even more than there already are.

 

Let God Restore His Image in You  

Many of us have watched with great interest and with sad hearts the news of the recent devastating wildfires in Maui. Such tragic loss of life and property is always grievous. However, it seems even more lamentable due to the location of this particular calamity. It occurred not only at a prime tourist area and famous vacation spot, but also in a beautiful area that many view as being a sort of paradise. It is disheartening to see the destructive effects of the fire on what had been such a picturesque landscape. Hopefully we are all continuing to pray for and support the victims of this catastrophe.

The Bible reminds us of another time when paradise was tragically lost. The effects of that event have been even more devasting and long-lasting. When Adam and Eve sinned in the garden of Eden, they lost much more than the opportunity to live in a beautiful, peaceful Utopia. They lost their right relationship with God and part of His image in which they had been created. They gained a selfish, sinful nature along with its consequences, while losing the innocence, purity, and holiness that they were meant to possess. And it didn’t stop with them. This wildfire that originated with their sin has spread throughout the ages of history, being passed along to every subsequent generation.  

Thankfully, God has made a way for us to survive the awful effects of this event. He loved us so much that He sent His Son into this fallen world to be our Savior. We can find forgiveness and life through faith in Jesus’ sacrificial death on the cross. We can have a restored relationship with our Creator. We can be saved from the fires of hell and be assured of a heavenly home, a new paradise.

 However, God’s provision for us doesn’t stop there. Too many of us are ready to receive what is needed to survive the tragic fall of mankind, but we fail to pursue the opportunity to rebuild what has been lost. We may not gain everything Adam lost at Eden, but we can have more of that image of God restored in us than we might think. God can not only forgive us of our sins, but He can cleanse us to make us a holy people. He can so work in our lives that we can become less selfish and more loving toward God and others. He can so cleanse us that we become less sinful and more in line with the “pure in heart” whom Jesus said are blessed and will see God (Matthew 5;8). Let’s not just allow God to help us survive the fire, but to rebuild His holy image in our hearts and lives.

We are grateful for the people who made it through the fires in Maui alive. Nevertheless, wouldn’t it be even more wonderful if those folks are able to rebuild and restore much of what those fires took away from them. They likely will not be satisfied to leave their area as a burned-out, barren landscape. They will hope to rebuild and revitalize it.

Similarly, let’s not be satisfied with lives that simply live under bondage to sin and its corruption while we wait for our heavenly paradise. We can begin to experience some heaven on earth right now. We can have some of that lost image restored and rebuilt in us. We can become more holy people. “Now may the God of peace sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful, who also will do it” (I Thessalonians 5:23-24).  

 

Those Little Deeds Can Matter  

Recently my five-year-old grandson was asked about what his favorite outdoor activities are. One might expect him to think about such doings as swimming, riding his bike, or playing ball. However, I was pleasantly surprised to learn that his first response to that inquiry was that he enjoyed coming over to our house and going for walks through our neighborhood with me. How sweet! You know that did good to this Papaw’s heart. Nevertheless, I still would not have expected that answer. I had gotten some indication that this grandson liked those little outings, but I wouldn’t have guessed that they would be one of the first items on his list of favorites. Those walks didn’t seem to be all that special or memorable, and certainly not spectacular. They have often consisted of simply walking along, watching the squirrels, stomping on fallen pine cones to make them crunch, finding a bird feather, and random small talk. I enjoy those times but had no idea my grandson valued them too.

It isn’t always the “big” things we do that matter most to other people or to God. Sometimes those seemingly small and insignificant actions can be more meaningful and valued. Think about the time when Jesus was watching various people who were contributing their gifts for an offering. He saw some individuals donating large amounts that no doubt would have been very helpful for the cause. However, Jesus singled out a widow who only gave two small coins. Everyone else looking on would have probably thought her gift was insignificant in comparison to what others were giving. But Jesus placed more value on her sacrificial donation, saying that she had contributed more than anyone else because out of her poverty she had given all that she had.  

On other occasions when Jesus spoke about the actions for which people will one day be judged, He spoke about such deeds as giving a cup of cold water to the thirsty, providing some food for the hungry, and visiting someone who is sick or in prison. He didn’t refer to occasions where we might get to share God’s Word or our testimony before thousands of people, or to our inspirational video that received thousands of views and likes on social media. No, He pointed to the small acts of everyday kindness we can show to others.

I am not suggesting that the big events don’t matter. They certainly can. Much good can be accomplished through the giving of big donations and the efforts of large groups with greater resources to reach people with the gospel and to help those in need. However, let’s not overlook or downplay the little, commonplace opportunities we are given to impact others and to serve the Lord. Let’s not get so focused on the occasional huge event, that we miss those everyday chances to be light in the darkness, to show God’s love, and to plant a seed of truth. A visit, a card, a thank you, a kind word, the proverbial cup of cold water, or even a walk through the neighborhood may mean more to that other person that some expensive gift or extravagant act.

Whether dealing with our grandchildren, our neighbor, or a complete stranger, let’s not overlook the value of the little things we can do. It may not seem like much, but it can be meaningful to other people. Additionally, it can get the favorable attention of Jesus. After all, He suggested that when we do those little kindnesses for others, it is like we are doing them for Him.

So let’s go do some little thing for Jesus today. It may mean more to someone, and to Him, than we realize.  

 

Facing the Fiery Furnaces of Life  

Most of you are probably familiar with the biblical account of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. They were the three Jewish men who were thrown into a fiery furnace because they refused to obey King Nebuchadnezzar’s command to bow down and worship a golden image. Over the past week or two I have noticed a social media post that has been circulating which references this incident. It actually has to do with the extremely hot weather many have been experiencing this summer. The post reads, “It’s so hot, I just walked outside and ran into Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.” Yes, I suppose it has felt like an oven or furnace in some places recently.

This account from the book of Daniel reminds us of some important truths we all need to keep in mind when we find ourselves facing the fires of life as we try to faithfully follow the Lord. For one thing, we know that the same God who miraculously delivered those three men from the wrath of a king and his death sentence can still deliver us as we face challenges, difficulties, and opposition to our faith. God is bigger than our enemies and is more powerful than anything that gets thrown at us or anything we might get thrown into. God is able to deliver us.

However, this account should also inspire us to trust God regardless of whether He saves us from the fire or not. That was the attitude of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. They basically told the king, “We believe God can deliver us, but if He chooses not to do so, it doesn’t change anything. We will still trust Him, serve Him, and refuse to bow down to your image.” We should have a similar spirit and commitment. It would be wonderful if God would miraculously change our circumstances or change the hearts of our enemies and bring us out of this difficult situation. However, if for some reason He doesn’t do that, we should still be committed to trusting Him and following Him. We can have confidence in His great wisdom and love – that He knows exactly what He is doing and what is best for us. Our love and loyalty to God shouldn’t be based on His delivering us out of our fiery furnace. Trust Him no matter what.

One of the most comforting truths to come out of this account is the fact that God will be with us in our fires. When Nebuchadnezzar looked into that furnace in which he had thrown the three men, he not only was amazed to see them alive and walking around, but he also saw a fourth person in the fire with them. This other individual was so different that the king commented that his appearance was like the Son of God. Whether this was an angel or some pre-New Testament appearance of Christ, there was a divine presence there in the midst of that fire. God was with His faithful followers. And I believe He will still be with us today. Whatever fires we may have to face, we don’t have to deal with them alone. God will be with us – whether to deliver us, or to give us strength to endure it, or in some cases to meet us to take us home to be with Him. Whatever the situation, God will be right there in the fire with His people.

So when you find yourself in the furnace, remember Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Keep trusting the Lord with the assurance that He is going to be with you either to deliver you from the fire or to see you through it.