An Amazing Race

'Tis the season for finales of TV shows.  A couple of days ago we said farewell to Special Agent Anthony Dinozzo on this season's finale of my favorite TV show, NCIS.  Last night Al and I watched the finale of Survivor, and a few days ago we watched the conclusion of the latest Amazing Race.

For a number of years now, Amazing Race on CBS has been one of the most watched TV shows in America, and is one my favorite shows as well.  This season I really didn't have a favorite team, but I enjoyed watching each of the teams run their races well, and I was satisfied with the outcome. 

As I was watching the most recent race, it occurred to me that we are all in an amazing race.  This television program is really a good metaphor for life.  We face roadblocks and detours on our journey through life.  We're looking for clues as to where to go next.  We want to finish well.  When we step onto the final mat at the end of the race, we won't be awarded a million dollars or hear that we are the first to finish.  Instead, we who are in relationship with God through Christ will be "awarded" an eternity with Him and will be hearing a different affirmation:  "Well done, good and faithful servant.....enter into the joy of your master."  (Matthew 25:21 ESV)

Challenges. Roadblocks.  Detours.  Interaction with other racers.  Clue boxes.  All these are elements of a popular television show.  But they are elements of our lives as well.

Things in life don't always go as we plan them.  There are obstacles, like knee replacement, to overcome.  Sometimes we get on the wrong road.  Our relationships with others don't always go smoothly.  But through it all, we have a "clue box" to guide us.  We have written instructions, the Bible, and we have the Holy Spirit within us to guide us on our journey.

How do we know how to run our race?  By looking to our "clue box", the Bible:

"Let us lay aside every encumbrance, and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith."  (Hebrews 12:1b-2a NASB, emphasis mine)

If you have ever watched runners, they don't carry a lot of stuff with them.  They don't load themselves down with clothes (like hats and coats and mittens and purses, etc.).  They don't run with luggage.  That's the imagery that this verse gives us.  Don't run your race through life carrying unnecessary baggage.  "Lay it down."  Get rid of your excess baggage.  Confess your sin.  Lay it down, and run your race.

Run with endurance.  Life is a marathon, not a sprint.  There will be roadblocks and detours and false starts.  Even so, don't give up.  Run your race.  Run with endurance.

Run your race, not someone else's race.  Follow where God leads you, which may not be where He is leading someone else.  How will you know?  Follow the "clues" in the "clue box".  And follow the last instruction in this passage.

Fix your eyes on Jesus.  That's the key to running your race.  To running your race successfully.  To finishing well.  Follow that instruction, and you'll be amazed!  You will be running an amazing race!

"Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God."  (Hebrews 12:1-2 NASB)