Wednesday, May 21, 2008
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Ten seconds can make a man's name known around the world if that ten seconds happens to be in the Olympics and he happens to spend those ten seconds running the hundred meter dash! And if he happens to win the gold medal! Around the world the winner of that event is hailed as the world's fastest human. Most of us have watched that exciting event, but most of us don't realize what ultimately makes a man the winner. The obvious answer is he runs the fastest, but in a sense, the winner is the one who slows down the least.
After our coverage of the Olympics, a well-known magazine included this headline, "He who decelerates least wins!" The concept of deceleration seems pretty odd to us casual observers because it appears that the runners are speeding up continually. In fact, the sprinter usually peaks between 50 and 60 meters. Newsweek says the start can lose a race, but it seldom wins it. The coach of the US men's Olympic track team said, "Nobody kills anybody in the first 50 or 60 meters. The key is not to decelerate as much as the other guy." So, that's the key to winning huh!
I'm Ron Hutchcraft, and I want to have A Word With You today about "A Gold Medal Finish."
There are a lot of people who get off to a great start, spiritually that is, but they don't finish well - they decelerate too soon. Our word for today from the Word of God, Galatians 6:9, "Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up." Now, maybe you're getting weary in doing good; you're beginning to slow down. But Jesus is saying today, "Keep your speed up man! This will pay off. Don't slow down now!" That's why Hebrews calls us to "run with perseverance the race set before us." That's why Paul wanted his testimony at the end of the race to be this: "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith." That's 2 Timothy 4:7. God cares how we finish!
Somewhere back there you started running some race for your Lord. Your uniform doesn't carry the name of your country, or your church, or your organization, or even your own name - it carries the name of Jesus Christ. You're Team Jesus. He's the One who must have felt like letting up as He approached the horror of His last lap, but He did not decelerate. It could be that you're getting ready to slow down; maybe you feel like dropping out. The race has had some discouragement hasn't it? You're tired. There isn't much support from the stands. Your opponents are tough. You're starting to think about yourself a lot.
Can you hear Jesus, your coach, calling to you from the finish line, "Not now, don't give up now, don't slow down now! You're about to win." Or maybe you've been running for the Lord a long, long time and you just want to rest this last lap. Or maybe you're getting a little careless and you're tempted to even take a major detour here near the end. Don't do it. You've run too long, you've run too well. Don't leave the track now. Go out in a blaze of glory. Finish well. Finish like a champion! You'll have plenty of time to rest up, you'll have plenty of time to celebrate when your race is finally over. But right now in these limited years we have here, there is still ground to cover. Don't slow up! Don't give up! Don't stop until you run across that finish line and you hear your coach's long awaited praise, "Well done good and faithful servant."