JThe importance of staying on course
The lessons of Israel for today.
Psalm 119:1-8 MSG 0Save
1 You're blessed when you stay on course, walking steadily on the road revealed by God.
2 You're blessed when you follow his directions, doing your best to find him.
3 That's right - you don't go off on your own; you walk straight along the road he set.
4 You, God, prescribed the right way to live; now you expect us to live it.
5 Oh, that my steps might be steady, keeping to the course you set;
6 Then I'd never have any regrets in comparing my life with your counsel.
7 I thank you for speaking straight from your heart; I learn the pattern of your righteous ways.
8 I'm going to do what you tell me to do; don't ever walk off and leave me.
Summary: This sermon deals the need to live out the Christian life with effectiveness.
Tanzania’s most inspirational athlete
2016-05-11
In 1968, four athletes were sent on the long journey from East Africa to Mexico City in pursuit of Tanzania’s first-ever Olympic medal. While none returned with gold, silver or bronze, the name of one man – John Stephen Akhwari – endures to this day as a source of inspiration to countless athletes and fans in his country and around the world.
Akhwari was on the back foot from an early stage and began suffering from cramp as a result of the high altitude. Determined to improve his position, he was then involved in a pile-up with other athletes nearing the halfway point of the race, causing him to suffer a badly gashed and dislocated right knee, as well as a bruised shoulder.
After receiving some treatment and a bandage for his knee from trackside medics, the Tanzanian elected to continue, and finish what he had started.
“A voice calls from within to go on — and so he goes on,” said an Olympic commentator.
When asked why he persevered in such punishing circumstances, Akhwari uttered one of the most memorable and inspirational lines in the history of the Games: “My country did not send me 5,000 miles to start the race,” he said. “They sent me 5,000 miles to finish the race.”
In the reading this morning of Jeremiah chapter 2 we find that Israel starts well in the reading but looking forward as the nation runs God’srace it fails terribly indeed the last words of chapter 2 say - 32 Does a young woman forget her jewelry,
a bride her wedding ornaments?
Yet my people have forgotten me,
days without number.
33 How skilled you are at pursuing love!
Even the worst of women can learn from your ways.
34 On your clothes is found
the lifeblood of the innocent poor,
though you did not catch them breaking in.
Yet in spite of all this
35 you say, ‘I am innocent;
he is not angry with me.’
But I will pass judgment on you
If we get nothing else from this passage of Jeremiah it is the thought that we must cross the finish line well. Powering on for God as we cross the line.
1st keep the finishing line in sight.
Jesus does this – So does Elijah who could possibly forget the moment in 1 Kings when the great Prophet leaves on the chariots of Israel with his successor hanging onto his shirttail for a double blessing?
What Jeremiah was criticising in Israel was for living in the now!
But it seems to me that we as Christians have the possibility of finishing this Christian race well.
Great New Zealand runner Nick Willis who produced a late burst to win bronze in the 1500m final.
He , flashed home over the final 50m to finish third behind US winner Matt Centrowitz
The key to any great Christian life is staying on course and I believe in the reading this morning there are vital clues on just how to do this.
When living the Christian life it is really important to remind yourself just how God has blessed you in the past.
4 Hear the word of the LORD, you descendants of Jacob,
all you clans of Israel.
5 This is what the LORD says:
“What fault did your ancestors find in me,
that they strayed so far from me?
They followed worthless idols
and became worthless themselves.
6 They did not ask, ‘Where is the LORD,
who brought us up out of Egypt
and led us through the barren wilderness,
through a land of deserts and ravines,
a land of drought and utter darkness,
a land where no one travels and no one lives?’
7 I brought you into a fertile land
to eat its fruit and rich produce.
But you came and defiled my land
and made my inheritance detestable.
8 The priests did not ask,
‘Where is the LORD?’
The thing missed by the Israelites is they were distracted by things that were less than what God has to offer.
Psalm 119 ve
1 You're blessed when you stay on course, walking steadily on the road revealed by God.
2 You're blessed when you follow his directions, doing your best to find him.
3 That's right - you don't go off on your own; you walk straight along the road he set.
You can’t do that if you are pressing towards the goal that God has placed before you.
In 1905 a young man from a wealthy family entered Yale University. His family intended that after completing his degree he would enter a suitable career in America. But God gripped his heart with the needs of China and he volunteered to go to that country with the gospel, much to the dismay of his family and friends.
He left America but never made it to China, succumbing to a disease before reaching that distant shore. After his death, a note was found in his Bible that summarized his life: ''No reserves. No retreats. No regrets.'' I wonder how many of us could say the same thing?
Secondly learn to change direction often.
It takes massive courage to turn from your sinful ways.
To come out of an established and so called normal life.
Nick Willis is a runner who stayed on course in running but had to struggle to stay on course morally
"Sierra showed a great amount of grace with me," Willis said.
"We decided to beat it together. We talked openly about the issues of sex trafficking, abuse of women, objectification of women and accessibility of pornography for young people on cell phones.
"Getting this topic out of my secret life into the open, and talking, talking, talking has been the biggest impact in breaking the cycle."
Willis, a medallist at both Olympic and Commonwealth Games, lives in Michigan with Sierra and their 2-year-old son, Lachlan.
A proud Christian, he recalled the pain coming clean about his addiction had on his loving wife.
"The hurt she felt was something I never wanted to make her experience again," he said.
"Before I focused on how my addiction affected me, but it wasn't until I realised the effect it had on others, especially my wife that I committed to change."
REUTERS
Eight years after his first 1500m Olympic medal in Beijing, Nick Willis finished strongly for Rio bronze behind USA's Matthew Centrowitz and Algeria's Taoufik Makhloufi.
James 1:12 “Blessed is the man that endureth temptation . . . for he shall receive the crown of life.”
Jeremiah did it he moved from Priest to a faithless nation to a prophet to that nation.
Paul did it when he met Jesus on the road to Damascus.
Israel repented after Josiah found the scriptures and obeyed them but then turned away again It takes courage to change your life so completely that the whole world gasps for breath at what it has seen.
John the Baptist when he emerged from the wilderness cried out Repent.
Even the religious leaders heard hima nd decided to do so
Courage to Begin Again
Ron Lee Davis, Courage to Begin Again, (Harvest House, Eugene, OR; 1978), pp. 81-82
Frederick Charrington was a member of the wealthy family in England which owned the Charrington Brewery. His personal fortune, derived solely from his brewing enterprise, exceeded $66 million.
One night, Charrington was walking along a London street with a few friends. Suddenly the door of a pub flew open just a few steps ahead of the group, and a man staggered out into the street with a woman clinging desperately to him. The man, obviously very drunk, was swearing at the woman and trying to push her away. The woman was gaunt and clad in rags. She sobbed and pleaded with the drunken man, who was her husband.
"Please, dear, please!" she cried as Charrington and his friends watched. "The children haven't eaten in two days! And I've not eaten in a week! For the love of God, please come home! Or if you must stay, just give me a few coins so I can buy the children some…"
Her pleas were brutally cut off as her husband struck her a savage blow. She collapsed to the stone pavement like a rag doll. The man stood over her with his fists clenched, poised as if to strike her again. Charrington leaped forward and grasped him. The man struggled, swearing violently, but Charrington pinned the man's arms securely behind his back. Charrington's companions rushed to the woman's side and began ministering to her wounds. A short time later a policeman led the drunken man away and the woman was taken to a nearby hospital.
As Charrington brushed himself off, he noticed a lighted sign in the window of the pub: "Drink Chrarrington Ale." The multi-millionaire brewer was suddenly shaken to the core of his being. He realized that his confrontation with the violent husband would not have happened if the man's brain had not been awash with the Charrington family's product. "When I saw that sign," he later wrote, "I was stricken just as surely as Paul on the Damascus Road. Here was the source of my family wealth, and it was producing untold human misery before my own eyes. Then and there I pledged to God that not another penny of that money should come to me."
History records that Frederick Charrington became one of the most well-known temperance activists in England. He renounced his share of the family fortune and devoted the rest of his life to the ministry of freeing men and women from the curse of alcoholism.
Thirdly – Never give up. Israels major problem was it gave up on following God. We cannot afford to do that. I don’t know how many people I have met in my life who have settled for less than God has had for them. They just dissapear into the crowd.
Psalm 119 When in doubt read God’s word:-
4 You, God, prescribed the right way to live; now you expect us to live it.
5 Oh, that my steps might be steady, keeping to the course you set;
6 Then I'd never have any regrets in comparing my life with your counsel.
Paul in writing to young Timothy is very straightforward in what he has to say. His words seem to be filled with encouragement and assurance that he can finish the course.
2:1 “Be Strong” - 2. 2:3 “Endure Hardness” - 3. 2:5 “Strive” - 4. 2:10 “Endure all things”
The finish line is just ahead and we are going down the stretch. We have made many sacrifices and faced many battles. Everything that we have done up till now will all be in vain if we don’t finish the race.
It is important to start right, but it is imperative to end well.
The Greeks has a race in their Olympic games that was unique. The winner was not the runner who finished first. It was the runner who finished with his torch still lit. I want to run all the way with the flame of my torch still lit for Jesus!
Psalm 119 7 I thank you for speaking straight from your heart; I learn the pattern of your righteous ways.
Finally Jesus said
Matthew 24:13 “But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.”
