1 Corinthians 9:24-27 “Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it. And everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown. Therefore I run thus: not with uncertainty. Thus I fight: not as one who beats the air. But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified.”
There is a term that we use to describe the busyness in our lives today – the Rat Race. You may remember the 1960 romance movie starring Tony Curtis and Debbie Reynolds, or the 2001 comedy movie starring Rowan Atkinson and Whoopy Goldberg of the same name, but the expression “The Rat Race” refers to the strenuous, wearisome, and usually competitive activity in a rushed “way of life”. It is an endless, self-defeating, or pointless pursuit. The phrase equates humans to rats attempting to earn a reward such as cheese, in vain. The phrase is commonly associated with an exhausting, repetitive lifestyle that leaves no time for relaxation or enjoyment. Just when you think that you have gotten ahead in the race, someone throws more rats in. Is that "living the dream", "living la veda loca" or "living a nightmare"? Not to mention, it is just a perishable crown that you win.
Ecclesiastes 1:13-14 “I set my mind to seek and explore by man’s wisdom all human activity that has been done under heaven. It is a miserable business and a burdensome task which God has given the sons of men with which to be busy and distressed. I have seen all the works which have been done under the sun, and behold, all is vanity, a futile grasping and chasing after the wind.”
I remember a family at church that was caught up in Youth Sports, being in multiple sports at one time and running their child from one practice or game to another constantly. It totally consumed them as a way of life, and when their child fell and broke their arm, all stopped and they didn’t know what to do. I had a friend that excitedly pursue the purchase of expensive new items that they craved, but once they finally acquired the item, the “thrill of the chase” was over, and it was onto the next fancied thing. We were on a Cruise ship for our wedding anniversary and a couple that that we dined with described how exhausted they were on the ship because they run from one shipboard activity to the next all-day-long from morning till midnight. I was exhausted just listening to them tell the details. These are all just examples of running in the Rat Race.
You may have been led to believe that the one who does the most or has the most at the end wins, but there are no U-Haul trailers behind a funeral Hurst on the way to the graveyard. You can’t take it with you when you go, and you don’t come running to “slide in sideways”, so what do you really gain in the end by running in the Rat Race? There is just a headstone marker with a “dash” [not a 100 year dash]. You see in society every day though people running from one thing to the next in order to “keep up with the Jones” by doing every popular thing, having every trendy thing, by running at the top of their game and being cool. The Rat Race certainly sounds exciting and a ton of fun, but is merely an enticing temptation that is competing for our attention, which lures and seduces our fleshly desires and distracts our focus from the true source of pure and honest happiness and contentment. God has something better in mind for us then the Rat Race. The Lord has a godly race that He has set before His team to run. Jesus paved the course, delineated the way, and set our focus on the finish line for an imperishable crown. Do not get weary or become discouraged as you run with the eternal perspective.
Hebrews 11:39-12:3 And all these [in the Hall of Faith], having obtained a good testimony through faith, did not receive the promise, God having provided something better for us, that they should not be made perfect apart from us. Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls.
In Christ, Brian
No comments:
Post a Comment