Chariots of fire

I remember one summer’s church camp theme—Hebrews 12:1-2. "Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus."

I think the reason I remember this is because of the T-shirts we all got. They had this verse on them along with a silhouetted runner. At the time, this verse brought to mind me, running in slow motion with a big grin on my face to the tune of Chariots of Fire, my blonde hair flowing, and some sweet new kicks on. Woohoo! Me and my junior high friends are running the race for Jesus! And every time I hear that verse I think of that T-shirt and that camp theme.

But last night I had to read through Hebrews for class. That verse hit me differently, and it’s because in the chapter before, the writer talks about the races run by Abraham, Isaac, Joseph, Moses, Rahab, and many others. They didn’t have new kicks on and their races were not won on some smooth new track. To say they encountered some hardship during their runs is an understatement. The writer mentions others who faced "jeers and flogging," "were chained and put in prison," "stoned," "sawed in two," and "put to death by sword."

So you read all about them and THEN you hear "let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us"? Suddenly my grin begins to fade ever so slightly, I slow down, Chariots of Fire decreases in volume. My new kicks get dirty.

In high school basketball tryouts, the coach had us do backwards ladders. The person to complete them first could be done for the day and head home. It was a race. Well, shortly after starting, I fell. I mean c’mon...BACKWARDS ladders? I fell right on my wrist and sprained it. Because I was just so good (or coach felt sorry for me), I still made the team, but ended up sitting on the bench for the majority of the season. That race held pain, disappointment, and frustration. I did not have big grin on my face.

Anyways, I got to thinking about how Hebrews 12:1-2 is not about smooth-sailing to the finish line. The race of life is sometimes marked with huge difficulties. But even so, there are some really great things about God’s race. For one, we don’t have to run with anything on our backs. "Throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles." (verse 1) Granted we sometimes forget this and think it might be a good idea to pick up that backpack of selfishness, greed, jealousy, addiction, whatever.

Second, we have a set course. The race has been "marked for us" by God. If life were a 5K, this would be one of the one’s with super clear directions on how to sign-up, well-organized registration tables the morning of, and ample food and giveaways at the end. Don’t you hate the runs where you can’t find the table with the first letter of your last name to get your number? Or after you’ve paid $35, you get to the end, and guess what? They’ve run out of T-shirts. Too bad so sad. Knowing that my race is marked brings back my grin and gives me the energy to keep going. It helps me "not grow weary or lose heart." Turn up the Chariots of Fire.