“…Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us….” -Hebrews 12:1
Rochelle was a young lady who began working in an office performing routine data entry. Her new boss was an avid cyclist and when she expressed an interest, he invited her to go riding with him and his wife. Rochelle did not have a bike, but they had an extra she could borrow.
Rochelle met them on her day off and went out for a ride. It was a tough workout and she was sore the next day, but she had really enjoyed the exercise and the fresh air.
Her boss was ecstatic that he had found someone in the office who shared his passion for cycling. He asked Rochelle to ride again the following weekend, and she accepted. After their ride, the boss and his wife began talking about training for an upcoming marathon. Their enthusiasm was contagious, and the next thing she knew, Rochelle was signed up for a 100-mile race. She began training every morning before work and started a new diet, which included quitting all junk food, especially soda.
However, it didn’t take long for her enthusiasm for biking to lag. She began skipping her daily rides and making excuses to avoid training with her boss and his wife. Soon, she abandoned her diet. She would slip away from the office at lunch to a pizza buffet, and to fool her boss, she drank Dr. Pepper from her stainless steel “water bottle” throughout the day.
On the day of the big race she contemplated calling in sick, but she did not want to disappoint her employer. She decided to go through with it. She made it just over halfway before throwing in the towel. Although others around her were struggling, they seemed to have faith in their selves. Deep down, they knew they were prepared, while she knew she had not prepared at all.
When the relief truck—dubbed “the sag wagon” by veteran cyclists—came by to pick up the ill and the injured, Rochelle climbed on board exhausted and soon fell asleep.
Sometimes we forget to live our Christian lives in such a way that prepares us for the final event. If we don’t prepare for the very difficult trials of life, we can’t expect our faith to hold up over the long haul. We must build up our endurance through a devotion to Christ, manifested through study, prayer, worship, and fellowship, and keep our spirit healthy by abstaining from worldly pleasures.
It is imperative that we stay in top spiritual shape; for when the judgment comes, we don’t want to get caught riding on Satan’s sag wagon. Rather, we want to be able to say, like the apostle Paul, “I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race. I have kept the faith….[T]here is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day…” (2 Timothy 4:7-8; cf. 1 Corinthians 9:24-27).
–Tyler Walker, The Weekly Bulletin, September 8, 2012