What Inspires You ? Running a Race for Eternal Life. When you were young and maby you still are, what inspired you to not give up? I know when I was younger , it seems that everything that I did was hard for me. playing basketball,Baseball, running, just about everything. It seemed that there was always someone, better, faster more athletic. When I went into the service, I can remember that we had to run a mile and a hafe to qualify. Now there were 48 men in my unit and we all started to run at the same time, we had 15 minutes to finish the course. Being not quite the runner that my frends were, I stayed up with them for a while, trying to imitate there foot action, but as the run went further, I started to fall behind. At the 12 minute time, my friends were done and there were only a few of us left on the track, after a while there were only two. Me and a man from another unit. My friends knew that I was having trouble and as I passed them by on the side line they started to yell at me and saying, “Don’t let the other guy pass you up, you can beat Him!”And with just that little bit of encouragement, I finished ahead of him by a hafe a lap. I was just glad that I had finished , and not that I came in ahead of someone else. Have you ever known of someone that was always coming in second in everything that they did ? Im one of those people. Jobs, Promotions,Titles, Test scores, It seemed that thru my entire life I’ve always been second. So what made me try all these years, what made me continue to fight for first place, what inspired me to not give up and just accept 2nd place? I found out that being 1st. wasn’t important but finishing and doing my best was. It was the effort and consistency that kept me going. Being able to say that, “I’m not going to quit, I am going to try my best and then maby one day, Ill get to where I’m going.” I found out that ariveing at your destination in the back of the plane was just as important as getting there in the front of the plane. Besides that, it was cheaper in 2nd class as it was in 1st class and we both got to the same place. Do you understand what I’m saying, it doesn’t matter how fast you run, it matters that you finish what you’ve started. But a runner without inspiration will soon give up and forget why he even started. Lets go to the scripture and see what Paul had to say about running and inspiration. 1st Cor 9:24-26, Heb . 12:1. 1st Cor 9:24-26, “ Know ye not, that they which run in a race run all , but one recieveth the prize ? So run that ye may obtain. ...I therefore so run, not as uncertainly : so fight I, not as one that so beateth the Air...” Lets stop there for a moment. Paul was saying in verse 24, that one recieveth the prize, did he mean that everyone else lost ? No He was giving inspiration for the christian to try, to start running as if you would win 1st place but that so long as you ran there was always the opportunity to become 1st.Here he was using the word ” prize “ as the inspiration to continue the race. An opportunity to finish, in other-words, He was saying that If you don’t start the race you can never finish the race. And if you never start the race you will never receive the prize no matter what you do or say. There has to be a starting point in your life, all of us, and again I say, ALL OF US , who claim Jesus as Lord and saviour started at the same place, The Cross, the end of the Race is Judgment. What ever inspires you to continue to run is fine, maby its a verse of scripture , a minister that was kind to you in days of need , a prayer, a word from a stranger, ect. Are there people in here today that believe that people that have been running longer ,need extra inspiration ? Come on ,raise your hands, Ill be the first to raise mine. A runner gets tired and needs a little more strength to hold on. The Bible states, “Know them that labour among you....and give them double honor.” Some might say that this verse is just for the ministers, but we can apply this verse to those that have been in this race for a long time. We all at one time or another labour in the ministry of Jesus Christ. Some more than others some a little less. But we all labour. “not as one beating the air.” Paul said. We run not as one who will not succeed but as one that will finish. The words of Paul are also the words of Christ. We run and labour in the gospel for a chance at a new life. Are you satisfied with this life ? I’m assuredly am not. I search for the prize of the high calling in Jesus Christ. We all have a destiny to fulfill in God and this life is just a dressing room for the eternal life in Jesus. The inspiration that we use is not as important as the inspiration that we all have gained in the cross that Jesus has bared for us. When our inspiration weakens, we look toward Calvary, a beacon of light, a city set on the hill that cannot be hid. The world can try to take your inspiration from you but they cant take the source. A window of joy that no man can take, a saviour that no man can destroy, a place in the son, that will shine forever. What is my inspiration ? “ Father ,Forgive them, for they know not what they Do.” The Joy of the Lord is my strength, He is my ever present help in time of need. I believe that there are those out there today that feel the same way that I feel. I may not be the greatest minister in the world, and I may not be the greatest Christian ether but Lord you know that I try, I run as one of your children in a race that I must complete. As if I’m on a track and you are watching me from your throne. I cant see you but I can hear the encouragement from above. The inspiration that I need to give me an extra step , and extra yard , an extra mile of the way. Let us pray. “ Father, You know that I’m in a race that I can not loose, you know the hardships and troubles that I face. When I get weary and seem to be able to go no further, give me the inspiration that I need to go the last mile of the way. I shall always give you all the Praise ,Honour and Glory forever. In Jesus name. Amen.” ars.
