THE SPIRITUAL MARATHON
Memorise: But he that shall endure unto the end, the
same shall be saved. Mathew 24:13
Read: Hebrews 12:1-3, Bible in one year: 2nd Chronicles
32:1-33:9, John 3:1-21
The day you genuinely gave your life to Christ, you began a
race. It is a spiritual race. The race to Heaven is not a sprint
but a marathon. It is not something you run with all your
strength for just one day and it ends there. Unlike the
regular marathon that goes through streets and paths
already marked out, you may have to take unmarked routes
and paths hitherto unknown while running this race. Also,
unlike in regular marathons where you can meet someone
who has successfully finished the race for tips, those who
have run this peculiar race to the end are definitely not
around on earth for people to consult with.
By the grace of God, as young as I am in Christ, I have been
running this race for more than forty years now, and I am
yet to reach the finishing line. There are people who joined
this race some fifty or sixty years ago, and they are still on it
till now. Every race has its peculiar nature. If you need
patience and a lot of tact while running an earthly
marathon, you will need much more of these while running
the heavenly race. No wonder Hebrews 12:1 says,
“Wherefore seeing we also are compassed, about with
so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every
weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and
let us run with patience the race that is set before us”
However, just like it happens in earthly marathons, there
are several casualties in the heavenly race. Some people
start a marathon like a sprint. They run far ahead of others,
but after some time, they lose steam and begin to retrogress
while those they left behind overtaken them. Also, there are
those who fall and injure themselves, ending up in an
ambulance. There are also those who out of exhaustion are
unable to continue the race, and so they drop out. There are
even those who after running for a while, gradually step out
of the path, and are disqualified. All these scenarios are
applicable to the spiritual marathon. Since you started the
race to Heaven, have you been affected by any of these?
Have you stepped out of the path of the race? Have you run
out of steam? Have you fallen and refused to rise up? Get up
today! The Lord will give you strength. Persist some more.
Take it one day at a time. Call on the Lord to help you.
Never give up. Each day that passes draws you closer to the
finished line. You will make it in Jesus’ Name!
Prayer Point
Father, grant me grace to run the race to Heaven with
wisdom, patience and perseverance.
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