Written by Pastor Jack Wellman– Max Lucado
Nearing the Shore
Every minute is one minute closer to the kingdom of God. We have no idea when the kingdom arrives or when Jesus returns again, so we must always be striving to run the race with endurance, never giving up. One lady who was swimming the English Channel gave up; but when she got into the boat, she saw that the shoreline was only about a mile away. She said that if she’d known that, she would have kept going. The point being, we can’t stop. We don’t know the day of Jesus’ return. Keep fighting the fight of good faith–we know the journey’s hard, but we know the destination is certain (Revelation 22).
Running the Race
Life is a race. It’s not to the swift or fleet of foot but belongs to the one who endures. The Apostle Paul wrote, “Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:13-14). We can’t begin the race and then quit, as Jesus said, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God” (Luke 9:62).
Persevering
We can’t overcome the world by our own power. It takes the strength of Christ to do this (Philippians 4:13). James wrote about “the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing” (James 1:25). It isn’t by our might that we enter into glory but “to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen” (Jude 1:24-25).
Conclusion
As Max Lucado said, “God never said that the journey would be easy, but He did say that the arrival would be worthwhile.” So keep on going, as if you’re almost there. Run the race with endurance because the race is not to the swift but to those who finish. And we must persevere with God’s help because only He is able to keep us from stumbling.
