Remembering the Basics

I was a sprinter in school. The 100 and 200 meter dash were my specialties, if you can call them that.  I can remember one track meet that our team was down a man and the coach asked me to run the 400 meter.  I was all in.  I lined up like it was a 200 meter and my mind was already on the finish line.  It didn't take long, about 200 yards, to realize I did not know what I was doing.   I started out beating everyone but at about the 200 mark I ran out of gas.  I finished last. I had attempted to run a race I had never trained for and failed.  Had I had any training I could have paced my start and finished a lot better than last. 

Our christian walk can seem like a race that we had not prepared for.  We have times when we are on fire and times when we seem to run out of gas.  This can make us feel or believe that we have failed and are loosing the race.  You RELATIONSHIP with the living God is not a sprint, it is a marathon.  Jesus is in your life for the long haul.  I am not talking about a run on asphalt or a nice rubberized track.  I am talking cross country, full of potholes and other obstacles; that if you are not aware of, you could be injured. 

In the times when you feel like you are running out of gas for this race or that you have hit a wall it is important to remember the basics:

1. Jesus is the savior.  You are not saving yourself or securing your own righteousness. 
2. It is for His glory.  We are not saved to fulfill all our earthly dreams.  We are saved to the glory of His grace. (Ephesians 1) 
3. God does not quit.  Paul tells us in Philippians 1:6, that God is able to complete the good work He started. 
4. He loves you and love never fails.   1 Corinthians 13. 

 Keep you eyes on Jesus and you will finish the race.