(Reading Time: 4:45) Every morning it starts all over again. Every morning you are back to square one. Every morning you have to decide what kind of person you are going to be. Every morning you make the choice to move forward or to let your yesterdays take hold of you and draw you into the past. Every morning you decide, “Where do I go from here?”
For me, some days I wake up with an enthusiasm for the opportunities that lay before me. Other days I wake up just to tackle the list I made the night before—the endless list of things that, for some reason, need to be done. Even the sense of accomplishment from completing all the things on my list eludes me. I just want the day to be done. Some days I get to spend time with my wife and enjoy our conversations. We sometimes complain about ministry, about life, about people, but most of the time we still share our hopes and dreams. However, those fade more and more the older we get.
Therein I think lies the inconsistency of each morning. With more things behind us than before us, it becomes harder and harder to get a fresh start each morning. Each day you realize you are older and nearer to the end. In a race it would be a good thing to be farther from the starting point and nearer to the end, but few people look at life as a race. Yet, the Apostle Paul did. In 1st Corinthians 9:24 he said, “Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize.”
Paul’s attitude did not lie in how he met the day, either with enthusiasm or with dread. It lay in his hope at the end of the race. In other words, he kept is eyes on the prize. In a race not much matters except the finish line. All of our efforts and all or our training are simply for one reason—to finish and finish well. I’m old enough now to see the finish line. Yet, I am still young enough to know the last leg of the race requires the most endurance and discipline.
Paul went on to say in verses 26 and 27, “26 Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. 27 No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.” We must face each day with a focus on the prize that lays before us, not just the activities of the day. Why? Because some days will feel to us like successes and some days will feel to us like total failures, but a day does not define who you are—finishing the race does. Yes, it gets harder as you get older, but you also get better at what you do. You have more experience, you are better trained, and you have developed more and more fans to cheer you on with encouragement.
Even though you cannot do much to reverse the aging process, although you can’t maintain the vigor and excitement you once had, still you can develop the inner man without limits. Focusing on our integrity and our self-discipline will cause us to face every day with determination to keep moving towards the prize.
“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses,
let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles,
and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.”
Hebrews 12:1, NIV.
There have been many before us who have developed this attitude and won the prize. They have gone on, but their testimony of faithful endurance still speaks to us today. My admiration of their commitment to the Lord, and how they lived each day in the light of eternity, inspires me to keep moving forward. I enjoy the days that work like they ought to, but I have learned not to let the other days discourage me. My life is eternal and it will go on forever. The day will not. Tomorrow will be a new day and I must decide how I will live it then. Today I must focus myself on running my race with the understanding that as long as I am moving towards the prize, one day I will look up and there it will be—the finish line.
“Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away,
yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.”
2nd Corinthians 4:16, NIV.
“Calvary exists to demonstrate the love of God to the families of our community!”
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