Finishers Are Winners

Finishers Are Winners

“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.”    —2 Timothy 4:7

A runner from Kenya, Hyvon Ngetich, took third place at the Austin Marathon in February 2015. It is noteworthy just to complete a marathon, but Ngetich was leading the female pack until she got within 1.2 miles of the finish line, and her body began to shut down. Race volunteers and nurses rushed to her side to give her aid, but she refused knowing their assistance would disqualify her. She crawled the last 400 meters on bloodied hands and knees to take third place.

After completing the race, Ngetich was rushed to a medical tent, where she was treated for dangerously low blood sugar. The race director was so impressed by her determination that he adjusted the prize money so she received as much as the second place winner. She may not have come in first place but was a true winner in many persons’ minds.

In most children’s sports leagues today everyone who finishes the season gets a trophy regardless of the record. My grandchildren have received participation trophies that are twice as large as some of my most prized trophies from high school. Every Special Olympics athlete has a hugger who greets them with a congratulatory embrace for competing, “Well done! Way to go!”

In the kingdom of God, winning and losing is not as important as finishing faithfully. The first shall be last and the last first (Matthew 19, 20). Those who lose their life for the kingdom shall find it; they are the true winners (Matthew 10, 16). Paul said, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith” (2 Timothy 4:7).  Because he had kept the faith to the end and finished the race, he will be rewarded a crown of righteousness.

Each letter to the seven churches in chapters two and three in the book of Revelation, ends with the challenge and promise, “He who overcomes.” In three of the letters (to churches at Smyrna, Thyatira, Philadelphia), overcoming or being victorious is further defined as, “be faithful until death,” and “hold fast what you have” until the end (2:10, 2:25, 3:11). God’s promise of reward is not to the fastest and brightest but to the one who finishes faithfully.

In life, we spend way too much time looking around to see how well everyone else is doing or to see the expression on their faces telling us how well they think we are doing. Hebrews 12 urges us to run the race with perseverance fixing our eyes upon Jesus (12:1-2). If we focus our eyes on Jesus, we are reminded that He has completed not only His race but ours, also. On the Cross, Jesus cried out, “It is finished” (John 19:30). With Jesus’ last breath, He paid the price for our sins and offered salvation to everyone who will believe.

As you journey through this life, you don’t have to compare yourself, your accomplishments, and your family to anyone else. God is not concerned with who finishes first or last, only that we remain faithful to the end that we overcome through Jesus’ sacrifice and love for us. Jesus tells each of us to “be of good cheer” because He has “overcome the world” (John 16:33).

Are you overwhelmed, today? Do you feel you are falling behind in the rat race of this world? Take heart! Jesus loves you. He has overcome the world and promises to be with you to the very end. Take His hand and finish the race that is before you. You are a winner in God’s eyes.

How Much Longer?

“Then he went down to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them.”    —Luke 2:51a

Road trips have always been a large part of our life with two children, and now, two grandchildren. Years ago, I attended seminary in Kentucky, and we traveled home to PA several times a year. Now, we frequently visit my brother’s vacation lake house in the mountains of South Carolina.

Inevitably, about 30 minutes into our eight to ten hour journey before we have left PA, one of the children will ask, “How much longer?” My wife and I take two different approaches in answering the question. I quickly reply, “Five more minutes.” I am not lying but using the grammatical technique known as hyperbole. I exaggerate how close we are to our destination to demonstrate that the how-much-longer question is premature, and “We are not anywhere near there yet!” I think it’s humorous.

Darlene patiently tries to distract the children with a game or song or nap. “If you take a long, long, nap, we will be much closer.” In more recent days with portable DVD players, “If you watch four more movies, we will be there.” I feel her patient approach is unnecessary. Toughen up kids. Life’s rough.

The movie “The Young Messiah” is set to be released to theaters next week. It tells the fictional but possible events from the life of Jesus Christ, age seven until His public ministry as recorded in the Gospels. Luke’s Gospel recounts the only Biblical record of Jesus’ early life. At the age of twelve, Jesus stays behind in Jerusalem to debate with the religious teachers in the Temple. Jesus’ family searched for three days before they found Him.

Confronting Jesus in the Temple courts, Mary says, “Son, why have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been anxiously searching for you” (2:48).  Jesus replies, “Why were you searching for me? ... Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?” Jesus may have been saying, “We have arrived. It is time for My public ministry to begin.” Mary’s response basically says, “We are not anywhere near there, yet.”

My Bible subtitles this passage, “Boy Jesus amazes the scholars.” What amazes me most about this passage is not that Jesus debated with the religious scholars but that Jesus returned home to Nazareth and patiently submitted to earthly parents for the next eighteen years.

There are two different Greek words in the New Testament that are usually translated as patience or endurance. One stresses the idea of great forbearance under suffering caused by other people. The second stresses patient endurance and steadfastness as we seem to be kept waiting for a long time by God. Hebrews 12:1-2 describes both of these ideas, “Let us run with endurance [patience] the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, … who for the joy set before Him endured [patience] the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

At times in life, you may feel circumstances, family, or even God is holding you back. Jesus understands. He had a God-sized mission but fulfilled it in God’s perfect timing. You may be crying out to God, “How much longer?” Jesus obediently waited 30 years to begin His public ministry. By God’s grace, we too can be patient with those around us for a while longer.

Made New

“And we all … are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.”    —2 Corinthians 2:18

Last evening, I sat down in front of some mindless TV program with two pairs of shoes, a newspaper, and my shoeshine kit. My kit consists of two Kiwi tins of polish (brown and black), two old tooth brushes, and a horsehair shine brush. As I opened the brown tin, I quickly remembered how dried out and cracked the polish was. I managed to hold down a few of the larger pieces long enough to get sufficient polish to coat both brown shoes. Then, I googled the internet for some way of restoring my leftover brown polish.

I typed into the Google search bar, “soften Kiwi shoe polish.” Within 0.46 seconds, I had over 5,000 results to my query. I took the advice of the first two responses: reheat without an open flame until melted. We have a large electric tart warmer. (For most of you guys out there, it’s kind of like a mini crockpot for scented candles.) Our tart warmer has a 4 ½” opening and was just large enough to allow my fingers to lower a shoe polish tin to the bottom. By the time I had polished my black shoes, the brown polish had melted and looked completely new.

Just a word of caution: don’t try this at home without adult supervision. Guys, get your wife’s permission. I am told Kiwi shoe polish contains naphtha, lanolin, turpentine, wax, and, ethylene glycol. It might not explode but will definitely catch fire if heated over an open flame. Also, I read that 175 degrees is hot enough to do the trick. One website cautioned against overheating and most warned not to ignite the polish. The tart warmer worked perfectly for me.

Honestly, when I saw the dried, cracked polish transform into a shimmering liquid in the tin, I was completely amazed and immediately thought about how God is able to take the cracked and broken pieces of our lives and make them new again. When we turn our eyes upon Jesus in faith, God begins the process of melting, molding, and transforming us into His image. We, who have wrecked our lives or lived for ourselves, can, by God’s grace, become re-created and useful for God’s Kingdom and others.

I would imagine, thousands, maybe tens of thousands of Kiwi tins have been thrown away with plenty of useful polish within. The polish may be cracked and crumbled. It may be dried up and appear useless to the human eye, but a few minutes in the tart warmer might make them good as new and useful once again. God’s love for us is infinitely more powerful than a tart warmer.

If you and I would only place ourselves under the discipline and love of God, we too can be reclaimed and made new again. This is done through the Spirit. The Holy Spirit, in my illustration, would be the power source, the electricity that causes the warmer to heat and transform the polish (our lives). John the Baptist said he was baptizing with water, but One was coming, Jesus Christ, who would baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire (Matthew 3:11).

My renewed polish worked great, but after a couple uses, it cracked and dried again in the tin. I plan to follow another post’s advice and add a small amount of mineral spirits (turpentine or kerosene) and try again. After all, the scripture did say transformation comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit. This lesson may indeed be good household advice for shoe polish, but the greater lesson is an invitation from the Lord to begin life anew. Take the broken pieces of your life and give them to Jesus. You, too, can be made new.