Finishing the Race

 Life is very much like a race, a very long race. There is a starting line and a finish line. The object is to run the race as well as possible all the way to the end. Of course, the ultimate goal is to win the race. To run well and to win the race of life, we must run all the way to the finish, and we must follow the course set out by God. Then, after the finish line, we will stand before God to see how we did in our race. Paul was well aware of how life was like a race, and He told Timothy and us how we should run it. (II Timothy 4:6-7) As Paul knew that his life was drawing to the end, like a drink offering being poured out, he gave his testimony. He had fought the good fight. He had finished the race. He had kept the faith. That is a testimony to which all of us should aspire.

Life is a series of battles for us to fight. We must overcome all types of obstacles. Each one calls for us to be strong in the Lord and to keep swinging away at our enemy, Satan. As we draw near to the Lord and He draws near to us, we can resist Satan and his demons, and they will flee from us. We can win every fight of life in God's power. All the while, we must keep running the race. There are hills and valleys. There are all kinds of turns. The race takes much endurance, no matter what we encounter. We have to take care of ourselves physically and spiritually, so that we have the ability to keep going. Again this is done by God's power, but we must put forth the effort to keep running each day. All the time we are fighting and running to the finish line, we must keep the faith. We must keep trusting Jesus as our Lord and Savior, and we must keep holding to the true faith which is given to us in God's Word. We can't depart from God's rules and run a good race. However, if we do these things, our time of judgment will not be sorrowful, but God will reward us, as He rewarded Paul.

#NHBaptistdotorg

Tomorrow, I intend to read Titus 2-3 and Philemon.