Do you like to race? Many children and even older people do! But how about a 100-mile bicycle race?
This story is about that kind of race. The race was planned for a Saturday morning in July on the Manitoba prairie in Canada. However, instead of the warm, sunny day the racers had expected that July morning, rain was falling, the temperature was about 45° and there was a strong wind blowing. It was a miserable day for a bike race, but the race would go on anyway. The starting point was in a valley, so the first two miles were uphill, and if that wasn’t bad enough, the bikers would be riding straight into that strong wind.
What a slow start for the racers! That day the thought was not to be the first one to the top of the hill; it was just to make it to the top, for each racer knew there were still 98 miles to go after that first hill.
Several cars and vans followed the racers with the food and drinks they would need to keep up their strength. They also carried medical supplies in case a racer became ill or got hurt. Someone would be right there to help out all along that 100-mile ride; the riders would never be left alone.
It was over 4½ hours before the first racers came in sight of the finish line. They were a tired, wet group. Even though each racer wanted to win the first prize, there was no burst of speed — just a steady pedaling to make it to the finish line — and then a cheer went up as the wheels of the first bicycle — the winner — crossed that finish line.
In 1 Corinthians 9:24,24Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain. (1 Corinthians 9:24) we are told to run the “race of life” as though we wanted to win first prize. It asks if we don’t know that “they which run in a race run all, but one [receives] the prize? So run, that [you] may obtain.” That means that we should always do the will of the Lord who loves us, every day, with all of our heart. Just as every bicycle racer was happy to reach the finish line, even if he didn’t get first prize, a day is coming soon when each of us who has accepted the Lord Jesus as our Savior will be happy to be with Him in heaven, and our “race of life” will be over. Are we being good runners?
We don’t have to run the race of life alone! The bike riders had people in cars following them to give them whatever they needed, and we who have believed on the Lord Jesus have the presence of the very Spirit of God in our hearts to give us whatever we need to keep running the Christian life. He is the “Comforter” promised by the Lord Jesus, who Jesus promised would “abide with you forever” (John 14:1616And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; (John 14:16)).
Messages of God’s Love 6/25/2023