Pastor's Blog
into the arms of Jesus Posted 1.03.2010
I hope you are ready for another year. What I can’t believe is that it has been ten years since we collectively held our breath to see if all things electronic would survive Y2K. And now? Now we are facing another decade. And to be hip about it, year 2k10. And what looms on the horizon? 2012. Oh those Mayans….did the know more than we know? I doubt it. If Jesus didn’t know when the world would end, I doubt He whispered it into Mayan ears. But, I could be wrong.
What gets me excited about a new year (and decade) is to renew my determination to finish. And finish well. I was reminded this week of a story out of the winter games of eleven years ago. At the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan, Norwegian Bjorn Daehlie proved once again he was a champion. He won the 10,000-kilometer cross-country skiing event, giving him his sixth lifetime gold medal. He would eventually go on to win 8 Olympic titles and 12 medals overall.
When he crossed the finish line, Daehlie didn’t rush away to a victory celebration. In fact, the award ceremony for his latest gold medal had to be delayed. Why? Because Bjorn insisted on waiting at the finish line for another competitor, the man struggling last in the 92-man field: Philip Boit of Kenya.
Philip had first laid his eyes on snow only two years earlier. Trained by a Finnish coach, he had accumulated enough points in competition to be invited to represent his country in the Winter Games – a first for his Africa nation.
Philip lagged behind the victor by nearly half an hour. But Bjorn waited patiently at the finish line, and finally Philip struggled into view. The few remaining spectators began to cheer him on. As Philip crossed the finish line, Bjorn the champion took him by the shoulders. His tight squeeze conveyed his respect and admiration for this one who was determined to finish.
Christ, the Victor, completed the course long ago, but he waits at the finish line to welcome us who come after him. And there is a great cloud of witnesses surrounding us as well. And the older I get, the more faces I recognize. That provides me the motivation not just to finish the race, but also to finish well.
With the arrival of a new year, I am determined to finish. The race we run is a marathon, not a sprint. The issue for us is not come in first place, or beat some world record. It is simply to cross the line. To endure to the end. To persevere. To run and not stop.
Join me in the race. When we cross the line, the Savior will be waiting amidst the cheers of our dear friends. What a day that will be. A day of great joy. Run with me, will you? Clear to the end and into the arms of Jesus.
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