An Individual Race with a Team Mentality - Wednesday December 02, 2015
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses... let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Hebrews 12:1 NIV
Last summer Mike and I did our first triathlon. There are three types of people who do triathlons. There are people who are there to finish first. They will swim right over the top of you in their wet suit, silently fly by you on their $4,000 bike, and be on their way home before you've started the run. There are people who are there for the first time and just hope to finish. They are wearing bright white swim trunks, ride a mountain bike, and walk some of the run. Then there are the people who are there because they enjoy competing in the race and hope to improve their own personal times.
This last group of people are the nicest, most encouraging people. They fly by you on their bikes and shout out, "You're doing GREAT!!!!" "You can do it!" Halfway through the bike part I caught onto their encouragement and started proudly shouting back, "This is my first time! I'm doing it!" They wanted to do their best race, and they wanted me to finish too.
I want to run the Christian race like this. My goal isn't to run the fastest, but I do want to run my best race. Most importantly, I want to encourage everyone around me to finish too. I want to be known for shouting out, "You and Jesus can do it!"
Submitted by:
Kelley Downie
Cedarcreek Community Church
Eau Claire, Wisconsin
One-Year Reading Plan:
Daniel 9:1-11:1
1 John 2:18-3:6
Psalms 121:1-8
Proverbs 28:27-28
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