Ready, Set, Go!

For those of you who don’t know me very well, let me tell you a little secret about myself.  I’m competitive.  I mean, I really love to win, be the first, and be the best at anything I’m competing in. It doesn’t matter if it’s playing a board game with my five year old or playing soccer with my son who is ten, I will play like there is a million dollar cash prize.  And although the feeling to dominate and crush the competition has lessened as I have gotten older, it’s still there.

This drive to win was a cause of frustration for me the other day at my sons’ school. It was field day and I was in charge of a water relay game. While some of the participants were focused, others were not. And it was not difficult to tell the two apart. The ones who were focused were just that, focused. They kept their eyes ahead of them on the race, even if they weren’t the ones running.  They didn’t talk to those around them, and they didn’t even care how wet they became because they understood the object of the game was not to stay dry but to fill the bucket first.

 The group of kids who were not focused might have wanted to win but it was not their first priority. They chatted and played with those around them, holding up the whole team because they were not paying attention.  Some kids, because they didn’t want to get wet, decided to sit out completely.  It was with the unfocused group that I found myself being frustrated. The soccer coach in me wanted to burst out screaming harsh yet motivational sentiments, but I figured that the principle wouldn’t like it if one of the volunteers kept making children cry, so I just let the kids be kids.

It occurred to me while I was watching all the elementary madness that there might be some Christians out there who have forgotten they are in a race. The writer of Hebrews makes it very clear that we are to, “run with endurance the race that is set before us.” (Heb. 12:1) It would have been nice if God had wanted us to run a pleasure cruise or life of leisure but no, we are to run a race. Races are long, and can be rough and arduous; taxing to both the mind and body. In fact, some races are so difficult, people decided to quit and just sit out.  For sure, races are no pleasure cruise.

Here’s the key to running a successful race; we need to stay focused. We need to pay attention to the race God has called us to. Satan will do everything in his power to distract us from what we are supposed to be doing, and if we fall into his trap the whole team, the Kingdom of God, suffers for it. We have to push through the pain of struggling and be determined to keep our eyes on Jesus even though we know we are going to get drenched with aggravations and heartaches. 

Now, here’s the good thing; we aren’t running our race just to be out there running. There will come a day when we will be able to say what Paul said, “…I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.  Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge will give me on that Day…” (2 Tim. 4:7) Isn’t that great! We get a prize and all we have to do is cross the finish line. But until then, let’s stay focused. We’ve got a race to run!

Right to Life

                My family and I were enjoying Saturday at my aunt’s house this past weekend and we were all excited to see a birdhouse with baby bluebirds.  I loved peeking in the little hole and seeing three little blind featherless creatures pop their heads up in the hopes of coming food.  A little while later, my niece and nephew came by each holding a six week old dachshund puppy.  Talk about heart melt! 

             Seeing the birds and puppies reminded me once again how much I love life.  And it’s not just life in the form of adorable baby animals. I feel the same way when I look in my garden and see new sprouts breaking through the ground, or my tomato plants recover from being under watered, which unfortunately, is something that happens more often than I care to admit. I suppose it’s just the inner cheerleader in me; the part that sees the potential of what could be. It’s as if I have internal pompoms that I shake while screaming, “Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay, LIFE!”

               My love for life in people is the same, only magnified.  People, the most intricate and special of all of God’s Earthly creations, are walking images of their Creator. Their potential and value are without measure.   That is why abortion is so heinous to me. It’s the ending of life. On purpose! Not only that, but it’s the ending of His life; life created by and belonging to the Creator.  Make no mistake about it, God takes the purposeful deaths of His creation personal and He does indeed listen to the cries of judgement from the blood spilled of innocent victims, no matter how young they are.

               There is, however, another side to the abortion issue that bothers me. It’s the harming of those who have abortions.  This really struck a nerve with me the other day when I saw images of some well-meaning individuals protesting at a local abortion clinic. The signs the protesters held, while again, well-meaning, were bothersome to me as a Christian. They were not loving, compassionate, or kind; characteristics which should be the hallmark of a Christian faith.

               This is where I believe we need to be careful as followers of Jesus Christ. Every person has a right to life; those in the womb as well as well as those carrying the womb.   The Bible makes it very clear that we have the power of life and death within the very words we speak (Proverbs 18:21). That means we have the ability to inflict lasting damage on someone by being vile or mean, and as I said earlier, God takes that very personal.  The women having abortions are as much His creations as the children those women are carrying. And because He is no respecter of persons (Acts 10:34), He loves them the same as he does any faithful believer.

              Am I saying that Christians don’t need to protest? No. People need to do what God is leading them to do, and if that means standing outside a clinic trying to prevent an abortion, then they need to be obedient.  It’s just important for us to remember that in whatever we do, we are representing Jesus to people who may have never heard of Him. And all people, no matter what they are doing, have a right to life.