In It to Win It

“You were running a good race. Who cut in on you and kept you from obeying the truth?”  Galatians 5:7

 

Have you ever had someone cut you off? In traffic?  With a buggy?  In a race?  Did it inspire Christian love and kind, gooey words?  Chances are, it did not.  There is something inherently irksome about being cut off.  I don’t even like it when somebody cuts of my sentence!  Something about it makes me feel like I forfeited some important destiny- like getting there first; getting the shortest checkout line; and telling the punch line to a joke.  All of that is somewhat rude and bothersome.

But other times, cutting in on us can be more than annoying- it can be catastrophic.  Have you ever watched a race and seen one car cut in to another and cause the other one to spin off the track?  Or have a horse cut off another in a race and it results in the horse behind it falling, breaking its leg, and hurling its rider onto the hard track?

There are so many fits and starts that we make on our Christian journey.  We commit to spending more time in the Bible, reading Christian devotionals, using our drive time for prayer and before you know, something (or someone) derails us.  We determine to walk in love and every obnoxious person known to man crosses our path that day before breakfast!  Why is it so easy to start the good race, but so difficult to complete?

The race we run in Christ is too important to give up or quit on.  Every time we get knocked off course, we must get up, dust ourselves off, and get back in the race.  We must find a steady, sustainable clip and not let anything off the track lure us away or cause us to crash.  We will not be perfect.  Our performance will never be perfect.  But our heart can be perfect toward the Lord and we can choose to get up one time more than we fall down.

To run a good race we must be appropriately equipped, and have an uncluttered course before us.  Sometimes we must thoughtfully consider what clutter is tripping us up.  Are there habits, hobbies or relationships that steal your time from God?  We must follow the truth at all costs, even if it means making the touch calls and the hard decisions.  You were running well!  Who or what cut in on you?  Answer that- then cut it out!

Dear Lord, help me to run the race with integrity, stability and faithfulness.  Help me to see and remove the hurdles.  In Jesus’ Name.  Amen.

Sherri