11/03/2020
To be judged worthy of a seat at God’s table requires our best, and greatest effort. No small amount of love will win this prize for us; only when we love Him with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength can we receive His pleasure. You see, our God gave us His best, His only begotten Son, and He expects our best response in return.
“Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it.”
1 Corinthians 9:24 ESV
When I was in grade school our athletic ability was tested twice a year. We were taken to a large field behind the school, and ran races where we were timed. We ran sprints like the 50 yard dash, and 100 yard dash, and we also ran distances like the half mile and mile. After those individually timed races were completed the best runners in each grade were selected and competed against each other in relays. It was a fun day for some as they ran laughing around the field giving it a minimum of effort, and for others they detested it, and barely ran at all, but for me, and others like me, it was a time to excel, and show off your best efforts. We were the best on the field, who could go the distance, and finish before all the rest. We ran each race to win the prize, and some cried when they lost. As for me, I was always running neck in neck with one other boy for first place in every race, and it drew out the best in me to the point where on distance races I might collapse in exhaustion at the end of a race.... because it took everything I had to defeat my opponent, and I gave it all. This desire to excel is what our teachers were looking for as the day progressed, and in our race towards faith it is exactly what God looks for... the child who holds nothing back.
“For if anyone thinks he is something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself. But let each one test his own work, and then his reason to boast will be in himself alone and not in his neighbor. For each will have to bear his own load.”
Galatians 6:3-5 ESV
So who wins the prize? Is it the one who was given a large degree of faith at birth, or to whom believing comes easy? Perhaps, but not necessarily, it is more times than not the one who was given a tiny mustard seed that he tended, nurtured, and used to its full advantage. Sometimes we misunderstand the purpose of the race, and think we have won when in fact we might have finished first, but not best. Faith is a an individual race in which we are not judged by the times and endurance of others, but on our own best efforts, and fastest times.
“For to this end we toil and strive, because we have our hope set on the living God, who is the Savior of all people, especially of those who believe.”
1 Timothy 4:10 ESV
So what is your best race, and how have you chosen to run it? Have you completed the distance last in your heat, having run your best time, but with nothing left to give of yourself? Or, have you easily finished first, and now run about waving your flag as you await the next race? Who, in the eyes of the Lord, has truly won the race? Listen to the words of Jesus...
“So the last will be first, and the first last.””
Matthew 20:16 ESV
Prayer:
Father, thank you for the race of faith that you have entered me in, but thank you most for the handicap with which I run it. Though I might run it with a cane, a walker, or in a wheelchair, give me the heart to run my best, and to expend all my effort for you. At the end of the day Lord I long to sit at your feet, and feel your hand on my head as you say “That was your best race ever, and you are my son in whom I am well pleased.” Holy, Holy, Holy, are you my God who desires all that I have to give you. Praised be your name Father when I am the last to reach your hand, and yet find in your smile that I have won the race. Great are you who stoops low to draw me to you, and who sees in me what others cannot see. It is your mercy, goodness, and grace that gives me strength, and I leave it all on the course just to see a glimmer of your greatness. I hold to the hand of your Son Jesus and weep because I have nothing left to give you, and yet Jesus smiles at me. How amazing, and just, are you Father who thus welcomes me home and seats me at your table before the fatted lamb... humbled, and yet victorious do I find myself reflected in your eyes in this your eternal dining hall.
Rich Forbes