The Race

I've always liked the analogy of the Christian life being a race that we run.

The finish line is Heaven.

1 Corinthians 9:24 (ESV) "Do you not know that in a race all the runners compete, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it."

The race isn't a sprint.

It's a marathon.

And as we move along step by step we hear them.

In the crowd.

In the race with us.

The hecklers.

The naysayers.

The folks who mean well but are just plain mean.

The critics.

Love the critics.

If you really try to follow Christ you'll have plenty of those.

As far as unbelievers are concerned, consider the words of Puritan author Thomas Watson:

"Don't be laughed out of your faith. If a lame man laughs at you while you're walking upright, are you going to start limping?"

No way.

Especially in this race.

Hebrews 12:1-2 (ESV) "Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God."