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An
Outreach Publication of the Church of Christ at
Creekwood |
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The Wrong Race A
world-class female runner was invited to compete in a
road race in When she arrived she was relieved to see in the parking lot a modest number of runners preparing to compete -- not as many as she’d anticipated. It was also an easier race than she’d been led to expect. She hurried to the registration desk, introduced herself, and was surprised by the race officials’ excitement at having so renowned an athlete show up for their race. No, they had no record of her entry, but if she’d hurry and put on this number, she could just make it before the gun goes off. She ran and, naturally, she won easily, some four minutes ahead of the first male runner who finished in second place. Only AFTER the race – when there was no envelope containing her sizable prize and performance money – did she confirm that the event she’d run was not the race to which she’d been invited. THAT race was being held several miles farther up the road in another town. She had gone to the WRONG starting line, run the WRONG course, and missed her chance to win a valuable prize. * Each one of US is running in a race... and many of us are expending a lot of time and effort in completing the course. How SAD it would be to learn in the END that we have run the WRONG course! The RIGHT race is the one that is following Jesus! (Hebrews 12:1-2) This is the ONLY “race” that leads to an ETERNAL REWARD (2 Timothy 4:7-8). All other “races”– as thrilling and fulfilling as they appear to be -- lead to DESTRUCTION (Mat. 7:13-14). To ENTER the right race, we must first BEGIN by becoming a child of God: through faith (Acts 16:30-31), repentance (Acts 17:30-31), confession of Christ (Romans 10:9-10), and baptism for the forgiveness of sins (Acts 2:38). THIS. . . . is the “STARTING LINE ” THEN,
we must RUN the right
race: with
our eyes fixed on Jesus (Hebrews 12:2), running
faithfully according to the prescribed course (1 John
1:7). We
WILL stumble and fall at times, but if we will get
back up and keep running, Jesus WILL Follow the instructions given in His Word and run in the RIGHT race. On your mark..... Get set...... GO! David A. Sargent, Minister Church of Christ at Creekwood * -- Adapted from Thinking And Acting Like A Christian, D. Bruce Lockerbie, p. 52 To Subscribe to "Living Water" send a blank e-mail to:
HTML version: subscribe-livingwater@lyris.dundee.net Follow this link to locate the church of Christ nearest you: www.churchzip.com Archived issues of "Living Water" can be accessed from our website at: www.creekwoodcc.org
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