Life Is A Marathon: The Towel

LIFE IS A MARATHON… THE TOWEL…

By Wade Martin Hughes, Sr. Kyfingers@aol.com ( Two parts)

SUGAR RAY LEONARD VS ROBERTO DURAN… NO MAS, NO MAS… THE TOWEL?

For the Middleweight Champion Crown in Boxing there were three matches between SUGAR RAY LEAONARD III and ROBERTO DURAN… In the last match, Duran turned his back on Sugar and cried out… NO MAS, NO MAS. In Spanish that means no more, no more. Duran quit! Duran was disgusted and waved his glove… he walked away. Duran claimed he had stomach cramps… Duran became associated with quitting.

DO WE UNDERSTAND WHAT THROWING THE TOWEL IN THE RING MEANS?

STANDING ON THE PROMISES… WE HAVE SOME VERY SURE PROMISES FROM GOD TO US…

Matthew 24:12 And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. 13 But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.

We have some God guarantees you can bank on… THERE IS A PROMISE FOR THOSE THAT ENDURE TO THE END… We need to be loyal…

**ENDURE: to hold out, to not give up, never give in, to suffer something painful or difficult patiently, bear, stand, tolerate, to make hard, to not give up, to continue.

**PERSEVERE: to continue in the course of action even in the face of difficulty or with little or no prospect of success, to overcome discouragement, to stick with the task, journey or mission, overcoming the distractions, obstacles or discouragement.

MANY WILL LIVE THEIR DAILY LIVES STUMBLING AND BEING OFFENDED AND THROW IN THE TOWEL…

Matthew 24:12 And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. 13 But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.

Matthew 24:12 (MSG) For many others, the overwhelming spread of evil will do them in—nothing left of their love but a mound of ashes. 13 "Staying with it—that's what God requires. Stay with it to the end. You won't be sorry, and you'll be saved.

Matthew 24:12 (Passion) There will be such an increase in sin of lawlessness that those whose hearts once burned with passion for God and others will grow cold. 13. But hold your hope firmly to the end and you will experience life and deliverance.

LIFE IS NOT A 100 YARD DASH… REAL LIFE IS A MARATHON…

Ecclesiastes 9:11 I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all.

THE 100 YARD DASH IS SLANG FOR THE FASTEST GUY… IT IS RUN WITH YOUR LEGS… The hundred yard dash is a short, very fast race. A 100 yard dash is liken unto something that can be accomplished very quickly. The average person can run the 100 yard dash in about 30 seconds. A good runner can run the dash in 13-14 seconds. A very good runner can do it in under 10 seconds.

Hebrews 12:1 Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,

When I was in high school we had a very talented basketball player. The coach told him he was lazy. They would tie weights to his shoes. All week long he ran, he practiced, he wore weights… Right before the game, the trainer would take off his weights. He ran faster and jumped higher. TAKE OF THE WEIGHT…

THE MARATHON IS A LONG DISTANCE FOOT RACE… 26 MILES… A MARATHON IS RUN WITH YOUR HEAD, NOT YOUR LEGS… The race is so long it must be run with the mental aspect coming into play. The runner feels fatigue and extreme tiredness. There are at least 40,000 steps in a race. There is a term called SPLAT… where the body desires to quit. All marathon runners say the hardest point is to have to overcome the mental splat. You will face high heart rates. Sweat flows. One tends to dehydrate.

WE LIVE AND DIE WITH THE CHOICES WE MAKE…

Deuteronomy 30:19 I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live:

Deuteronomy 30:19 (NLT2) “Today I have given you the choice between life and death, between blessings and curses. Now I call on heaven and earth to witness the choice you make. Oh, that you would choose life, so that you and your descendants might live!

WE DO NOT SEE THINGS AS THEY ARE… WE SEE LIFE AS WE ARE… OUR SPIRITUAL VISION IS BLURRED AND DISTORTED… BUT SOME DAY, THE SON WILL SHINE BRIGHTLY AND WE SHALL SEE CLEARLY…