Ironman Christians
Have you heard of the Ironman Triathlon? It’s held every fall in the US city of Kailua-Kona, Hawaii, the race encompasses three endurance events; a 2.4 mile ocean swim in Kailua-Kona Bay, a 112 mile bike ride across the Hawaiian lava desert to Hawi and back, and then to top it off, a 26.2 mile marathon along the coast of the Big Island.
The current course record was set in 1996 by Luc Van Lierde (Belgium) whose winning time was 8 hrs 4 mins 8 sec.
CAN YOU IMAGINE HOW HARD THAT WOULD BE EVEN TO FINISH THAT EVENT? I can’t and I ran 14 marathons from age 44 to 50. And I thought the marathon was hard enough!
There is no way in the world that I would have entered the Ironman triathlon! First, it would be too hard, too grueling, too long! And second, I would have drowned in the swim!
Well, all of us are involved in a marathon-endurance race whether we realize it or not. DO YOU KNOW WHAT IT IS? It’s called the Christian life. The Christian life from beginning to end is a very long, endurance race and sometimes, the going gets pretty tough, does it not?
From a sermon by Steve Shepherd, "I Thank God For You" 8/1/2008