Last week we described only one race – the human race. This is the biological race of man and woman, created in the image of God, distinct from all other creation, and a skin color that is only skin deep. But there are two more races: the physical race and the spiritual race.
The physical race is about the sustenance of life and relationships with others. Since Adam and Eve were kicked out of the Garden of Eden, we all need to work for food and shelter and relate to others in a social environment.
The physical race is for shelter and protection, influence and power, money and wealth, and all that is needed to sustain life. The big question is – for what purpose? For the world, the flesh, and the devil, or for the Lord? Bob Dylan stated “Everybody worships something – might be the devil or might be the Lord, but everybody worships something.”
This brings us to the third race, the spiritual race. Some people believe and act as if the physical race is all there is, and then we die. For many who are unredeemed, it is a race to beat your competitors and win. In their world view, whoever dies with the most toys – the most wealth, wins.
For those of us in Christ, it is a still a race, but it is against poverty and crime, idolatry and false religions, and loneliness and despair. Our competitors are the temptations of the flesh, the seductions of the world, and the lies of the devil. We don’t seek to beat others, but to help them run the race and fulfill the Lord’s calling on their lives. In this world view, whoever dies to self and lives to serve others through Christ wins.
This race is not about getting to the endpoint as fast as possible, for our number of days is set by God. It is to make sure we are on the right path – the narrow path that leads to heaven, rather than the broad path of the world, the flesh, and the devil that leads to the Lake of Fire. It is the spiritual race that the apostle Paul was talking about when he said: “Let us run the race that is set before us.” Hebrews 12:1
Some people (such as the Laodiceans – Revelation 3) see the race as mere recreation. So they sit in the bleachers, watching the race and enjoying the show. What they don’t realize is that EVERYONE IS IN THE RACE and SATAN OWNS THE BLEACHERS. Because they refuse to run the race on the narrow path, they are automatically on the broad path, headed to the Lake of Fire.
Another section of the bleachers are DROPOUTS – people who have dropped out of the race because of discouragement, failures, drug addictions, or sloth. Our heart goes out to them, but they are still in Satan’s bleachers because they have not responded to our Lord’s call on their lives.
So let us go forth with the love and truth of Christ, running the race set before us, and helping others join us on the narrow path that leads to the very throne of God.
To God be the glory
The physical race is about the sustenance of life and relationships with others. Since Adam and Eve were kicked out of the Garden of Eden, we all need to work for food and shelter and relate to others in a social environment.
The physical race is for shelter and protection, influence and power, money and wealth, and all that is needed to sustain life. The big question is – for what purpose? For the world, the flesh, and the devil, or for the Lord? Bob Dylan stated “Everybody worships something – might be the devil or might be the Lord, but everybody worships something.”
This brings us to the third race, the spiritual race. Some people believe and act as if the physical race is all there is, and then we die. For many who are unredeemed, it is a race to beat your competitors and win. In their world view, whoever dies with the most toys – the most wealth, wins.
For those of us in Christ, it is a still a race, but it is against poverty and crime, idolatry and false religions, and loneliness and despair. Our competitors are the temptations of the flesh, the seductions of the world, and the lies of the devil. We don’t seek to beat others, but to help them run the race and fulfill the Lord’s calling on their lives. In this world view, whoever dies to self and lives to serve others through Christ wins.
This race is not about getting to the endpoint as fast as possible, for our number of days is set by God. It is to make sure we are on the right path – the narrow path that leads to heaven, rather than the broad path of the world, the flesh, and the devil that leads to the Lake of Fire. It is the spiritual race that the apostle Paul was talking about when he said: “Let us run the race that is set before us.” Hebrews 12:1
Some people (such as the Laodiceans – Revelation 3) see the race as mere recreation. So they sit in the bleachers, watching the race and enjoying the show. What they don’t realize is that EVERYONE IS IN THE RACE and SATAN OWNS THE BLEACHERS. Because they refuse to run the race on the narrow path, they are automatically on the broad path, headed to the Lake of Fire.
Another section of the bleachers are DROPOUTS – people who have dropped out of the race because of discouragement, failures, drug addictions, or sloth. Our heart goes out to them, but they are still in Satan’s bleachers because they have not responded to our Lord’s call on their lives.
So let us go forth with the love and truth of Christ, running the race set before us, and helping others join us on the narrow path that leads to the very throne of God.
To God be the glory