Crossing the Finish Line

       My feet were planted in thick sticky mud, while the gym bag and heavy backpack cut into my sunburned shoulders. I was positioned at the finish line of a Spartan race waiting for my niece and her boyfriend to come into view. There was already victory in the air for those who dared even enter this grueling 5K endurance course, which involved difficult obstacles and excessive amounts of mud. The final obstacle was a row of fire, occasionally stoked with a spray of orange flammable substance some guy squirted out of a plastic water bottle. I watched as some finishers crossed the fire as a group holding hands. There were father/son,  mother/daughter, or couple duos. Others were alone. A few came limping in, barely able to lift their feet one last time to clear the flames. There was an impressive young buck who amazed us cheering spectators by doing a backflip over the fire with a big grin! It might have been the heat from the sun or the fire, but as I watched the endless stream of mud-covered weary warriors straggle in, I began to think about the FINAL finish line…how are we running the race of life and how will we cross the finish line at the end of it…
     Admittedly, I’m not a big fan of running. When farm life required running, it was seldom enjoyable. We desperately raced to get hay bales in the barn before the sky came through on its threat of rain. And we ran when the cows got out or we had to move wayward sheep. My most impressive sprint occurred when the water snake we threw rocks at chased us. There was minimal satisfaction running around the perimeter of the cow pasture listening to Prince on my store brand “Walkman”, conditioning for the high school track team. Watching where I was going and dodging cow patties was in itself a good life lesson…
     In the car coming home from the Spartan, my niece and her boyfriend shared details about their race experience, which I wrote down immediately because they were so good!. For example, they said “Those sand bags we had to carry were as heavy as sin!” Prophetic words! Sin is actually heavy. “Let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us.” (Hebrews12:1)
     They also explained how if you chose not to do a difficult obstacle challenge, then you did the designated penalty. There are consequences for our decisions. Galatians 6:7 says “Do not be deceived. God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap.” 
   While everyone had to carry their own individual sandbag in the Spartan, my niece’s boyfriend often helped pull struggling racers up the slick muddy A-frame obstacles. He would also grab hold of the structure and once he was stabilized, my niece who was a few steps higher, could rest on his shoulders. It reminded me of how we need to stabilize ourselves and “bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.” (Galatians 6:2)
     When people ran in the Bible it was usually soldiers running into battle, messengers carrying news, or people fleeing danger. Peter and John ran to the tomb after the resurrection. And in Luke 15 a father ran to greet his prodigal son in an act of love and forgiveness. Likewise Jesus takes our shame and offers us forgiveness when we repent. Sin (imperfection) is a huge obstacle, but God makes a way--one way-- over it.
     We will all cross the finish line one day, maybe limping or doing a backflip. As we run, if we can keep our eyes on the Prize (Jesus), we might even get to say my Grandpa Nelson’s favorite Bible verse:  2 Timothy 4:7 “I fought the good fight, I finished the course, I have kept the faith.”
 
 
 

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