We Started This Race To Finish It

The race had been completed over an hour before. Most of the spectators had already moved on to other things. However, as the darkness of evening settled over the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City, a striking figure entered the far end of the stadium. The winner of the race had already been declared. But, to every one's surprise, this lone runner pressed on towards the finished line. As he hobbled into view it became apparent why he was lagging so far behind the rest of the field. One leg was bloodied and bandaged, and his body was racked with pain. In spite of it all, however, John Stephen Akhwari of Tanzania pressed through the cold darkness towards the finish line.

This struggle of endurance in the face of a seemingly insurmountable obstacle brought the remaining crowd to their feet. As the injured runner finally crossed the finish line the crowd roared in appreciation of the remarkable moment they had just witnessed. It would go down in history as one of the most memorable Olympic moments ever. A reporter, recognizing the significance of the moment quickly went to the lone, persistent runner and asked him why he didn't quit the race after he realized that there was no chance at all that he could win it. Akhwari famously replied, “My country did not send me 7000 miles to start the race. They sent me 7000 miles to finish it."

Several times, in the New Testament, this life that we live is likened to a race. Today, I am reminded that we are all running a race. We are all striving to win this race. In athletic events, Paul tells us, all run but only one receives the prize. (1 Corinthians 9:24) However, the wonderful truth of the race that we are in is that we can all obtain the prize. We all run to obtain the same prize and, unlike most races, we can all obtain the thing we are running for.

The reason for this is that the prize for this race does not go to the swiftest. This is a race where the prize goes to the one that endures until the end. Jesus said in Matthew 24:13, "But he who endures to the end shall be saved." Everyone that crosses the finish line of this race will be rewarded with the prize that we all strain for. I want to remind you this morning that the focus isn't on running the race, the focus is on crossing the finish line. The prize lies in finishing the race. And we can all obtain that prize, simply by running with endurance until we finally cross the finish line.

When I was younger I really liked to run. I ran a couple of miles every evening. However, in the fall of the year, after the time changed, it would get dark too early for me to run. (At the time we lived on a busy highway with no sidewalks, and running in the dark could prove to be dangerous.) Each spring, when the time changed again, I would have to start all over again building myself back up to where I could run 2 miles. I discovered that the easiest way to do this was to run until I didn't feel like I could go any further. At that point I would then pick a target, a goal, somewhere ahead of me and encourage myself to push until I reached that goal, where I would slack off and complete the two miles at a walk. The next day I would push myself to that same point then challenge myself to go a little further. Using this method, I could quickly extend my range each day until, before too long, I was running the full two miles. The thing that compelled me was the finish line that was constantly set before me.

Today, I believe that we would all benefit by lifting our eyes from the present circumstances of this race and extending our vision to catch a glimpse of the finish line. I want to remind you that God didn't start you on this journey just so you could run in the race of life. He started you in this race to finish it. He didn't put you in your current situation just so you could throw your hands up in frustration and quit. He put you here, and determined this course for your life, with one goal in mind, that you would finish the race. I want to encourage you this morning, not to abort the process. Don't stop short of the finish line. It really doesn't matter how fast you run, or how well you run, or with how much style and grace you run, it only matters, today, that you keep running. Our single goal, in this life, is to cross the finish line that God has set before us.

Perhaps this is why the writer of Hebrews instructs us to run the race with endurance. (Hebrews 12:1) He acknowledges that there are going to be trials and difficulties along the way. He acknowledges that there are going to be times when you stumble and fall. He doesn't preclude the idea that you may very well find yourself running this race while bloodied and bandaged from the hardships along the way. As a matter of fact, he goes so far as to tell us that these tests and trials are for our benefit and that they must be met with perseverance.

It was verse 12, however, that caught my attention this morning. There the author encourages us to "lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees." We are all running this race, and we all find ourselves in places, from time to time, where our hands are drooping and our knees are weak. But I want to join my voice with that of scripture and encourage you to lift up your eyes and take a long look at the finish line. This is what we are striving for. This is the reason we press on. This is the strength that fuels our endurance. We aren't living for this present life anyway. We aren't running for a corruptible crown. We are striving for the prize of eternal life. We are running for the greatest treasure of all and nothing in this world is worth abandoning the pursuit of the finish line. We started this race to finish it.

I want to encourage you this morning to keep running. Run, that you might obtain the prize. Run that you might cross the finish line. There is no prize for starting. There is no prize, even for running in the race. The prize resides in finishing the race. So keep running...