“To finish is to win!”

Wednesday 12-14-16, Modesto USA 

Today we read Hebrews 12 – 13 and Jude 

S.  Heb 12:1-2 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily hinders our progress. And let us run with endurance the race that God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, on whom our faith depends from start to finish. NLT

O.  This is not a sprint. It is an endurance race. Those who are witnessing our race are the heroes of the faith that are mentioned by name in the former chapter, plus tens of thousands of unnamed fans that are rooting for us.

A.  My son Ron’s wife, Elisabet Hiatt, (pictured above) an Argentine American, owns, rides and trains horses for long endurance races. These races often take place in the Santa Cruz or Sierra Nevada mountains on trails that are challenging with up and down slopes.  Most are 50 mile races.  Next year she hopes to reach 3,000 miles of racing on her favorite horse, Tango! 

Elisabet is rated 4^th in her weight classification in the whole country for the 155 mile races, done in 3 consecutive days. The horses are regularly checked for heart-beat and other signs of exhaustion or mistreatment. The point is not just to come in first, although that is admirable, but to finish the race without putting undue and unhealthy strain on your horse. The challenge is for the rider to know his or her horse well enough to not push the horse too hard. The idea is to reach the finish line healthy and strong. They do not emphasize the importance of arriving first. Their motto is: “To finish is to win!”

The “Good Book” tells me that I am in an endurance race.  I’m not the fastest dude in the west, but I am striving to finish the race well… because my Heavenly Father and a “cloud of witnesses” are rooting for me.

P.  Lord, help me to learn how to pace myself in this endurance race.  Keep me spiritually and physically healthy until one of these days, perhaps very soon, I reach Your finish line.  Because in this race, “To finish is to win!”  Amen.

Ralph