Inspiration Thursday

The youngest grand daughter is now 13 and in Jr. High.  So far, she hasn't been infected with "drama queen syndrome" that seems to be a normal part of teen girls lives.  She does enjoy soccer and track.  Above is an image of her running the 1600 meter (mile) in the first race of her career and the season.  Later in the race she got tangled up with other runners, fell and didn't finish well.  She was heart broken.  This week she will practice, learn from her mistakes and improve her running skills.  She will get better and she will become very competitive in this sport.
"Therefore, we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us..." (Hebrews 12:1).  The Bible tells us that life is a race.  It is an endurance race, not a sprint, although our time on this earth is but a vapor.  Our race is witnessed by everyone that we come it contact with during the course of our lives.  Some of our family members will witness nearly all of our race while some people will get only a glimpse of what we are asked to endure between the cradle and the grave.
All of us experience times in our life race that we stumble and fall.  We let sin get in the way of our abundant life and we let the world around us have too much influence on our lives.  We have to go back to the practice field, sharpen our life skills in compliance with God's Word and re-enter the race. At the end of our race we want to be like the apostle Paul who said, "I have finished the race, I have kept the faith." (2Timothy 4:7).  It is critical that we keep the faith in these trying days.  When our race is complete and we stand in judgment before the God of all creation, we long to hear the words, "Well done good and faithful servant:...enter into the joy of your lord." (Matthew 25:21).