Sabbath Thought - Running With Patience

In the 2012 Olympics, Algeria's Taoufik Makhloufi (mac-loof-ee) won the gold medal in the men's 1500 meter race. He was the best in the world at that time in middle-distance races, and he knew it. Two years later, he was competing in the men's 800 meters at the 2014 Shanghai Diamond League meet. He was in the lead as the pack approached the finish line when he stuck out his arms in triumph before crossing the finish line. He was stunned to see his first-place finish get usurped by Kenyan Robert Biwott (be-what). Makhloufi lost by 4/100ths of a second.

The Apostle Paul likened our spiritual calling to a foot race (Hebrews 12:1). A race is not finished until the finish line is crossed. Do we live our calling with all of our might (Ecclesiastes 9:10)?  Or do we at times say, "That is good enough for now"? The word "might" there means to be firm. This ties in with the steadfastness (endurance) of Hebrews 12:1. Endurance is not just hanging in there, but rather, spiritually speaking, it more fully means being firm and steadfast.

I have seen too many individuals who have stumbled or walked away from God's calling because they got off the solid foundation of God's Word (2 Timothy 2:14-19). They forgot that they belonged to God and then stopped departing from sin. If we are not careful, it is easy to look for the new, the exciting, the unique beyond what God has revealed to His Church for salvation. Calendar issues, aspects of Judaic worship, extra-Biblical meanings or applications of Holy Days, the twisting of Scripture are all fringe, or edge, issues. Why go there? This is the caution Paul gave in 2 Timothy 4:3-4.

We must remain steadfast to the end of our life - we must run with patience until the end. The race is not over until the finish line. However, we also have smaller finish lines throughout our life we must pay attention to. Did you stumble before the finish line of this last week? Have you stumbled after God gave you a blessing (Hezekiah - 2 Kings 20)? Have you ever pulled up short in following through on some aspect of God's instruction? All of us have, but the key is not to keep walking away.

Our running with patience means to be, and to stay, connected to God (Hebrews 3:14-19).  King Asa forgot this. King Hezekiah became complacent, and too many others have drifted away from God's calling and His truth. It need not be so with us. We are not alone in our race.  We have a perfect High Priest who knows and understands our struggles and weaknesses (Hebrews 4:14-15).  He became human to better help us - and yet He was without sin.

We are to press toward the "mark" of our calling (Philippians 3:14), because only we can make the final decision as to whether we give up or continue. This is where steadfastness comes in, because it is not always the fastest that wins a race (Ecclesiastes 9:11). We are to be diligent (2 Timothy 2:14-15), enduring to the end (Matthew 24:13), so we may obtain the "prize" of eternal life (1 Corinthians 9:24-27).

Our running with patience means to be, and to stay, connected to God. It is not how you start, it is how you finish. May we finish strong to the end.

I wish you a very meaningful Sabbath,

Dan Dowd

6 July, 2024