Coming Up Short!

This past Memorial Day weekeend saw two really good races. The one was the Indy 500 at Indianapolis and the Coca Cola 600 at Charlotte. The type of cars are different and the speeds they run are significantly different. They have similiar runs where one driver is leading then has to pit so someone eslse takes the lead. This happens constantly throughout the race. Then the white flag comes out signifying the final lap. This year both races saw the leaders out front with a comfortable margin. That is until turn four. Both races saw the leader go into turn four and lose the race. Hidlebrand hit the wall and finished second while Dale Jr (Earnhardt)ran out of gas and coasted to seventh place finish. Both were so close yet didn't win.

I watched both races and was amazed how the races ended. Neither driver expected to lose the race like they did. They raced their hearts out and did a nice job putting themselves in a position to win the race. The problem is that they didn't have enough to win the race and bring home the trophy. I often wonder about my spiritual race that I am running and how I am doing. We need to watch ourselves and be careful lest we come up short in our race. We are admonished in Scripture to abide in Christ. We are the branches and He is the vine. We only bear fruit when we are connected to Jesus. We have to be obedient to His will and calling for our lives if we want to finish the race and win. When we try to do it on our own strength we will fall back and fail to finish. The amazing thing about some races is one driver could dominate all race long then fail to lead the only lap that counts. The final lap! The only lap a driver has to lead in a race to win it is the last one. The other laps don't really mean anything once the white flag drops. The drivers all know that means they have one last chance to take the lead and win the race. We know that we are in race that is coming down to the final laps. We need to keep striving to win the race and not blow up, hit the wall and wreck or run out of gas. There are many things that can cause us to lose the race.

Don't ever forget that we have Jesus as our Crew Chief and He knows how to win the race. If we follow Him and do what he wants, we will come across the finish line and win the trophy. What trophy? The crown of life that every beleiver is promised. The best thing about getting the crown is we get to lay it at the feet of Jesus because He is the true Victor!