Time to Go!

Ready? Set? Go!

My granddaughter said this over and over as she would run from one side of their living room to the other.  The only thing is she would begin running before she got to "Go!"  I laughed and told her to not leave before she said go.  Quick as a flash she answered me, "NO!  I got to go fast!"

How many times are we in such a rush in our lives that we start running before it is time and before we get to "Go!"?  I have found myself in those situations so many times I can't count them.  You get ready to do something but you are too ready and you jump the gun.

In track, if you jump the gun too many times you are disqualified for trying to gain an unfair advantage.  In life, if you jump the gun, you are just not doing your part with as much thought as you probably should have in the process.  I wonder if our lives are lived trying to gain an unfair advantage. 

My granddaughter wasn't trying to defeat anyone in a race, she just wanted to get where she was going "fast!"  The mentality that we have in our society is that getting there first or the fastest means we are better than those behind us. 

In Christianity, it isn't who finishes first, it is just finishing.  "However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace." Acts 20:24.

But it is important to run to win the prize "Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize." 1 Corinthians 9:24 But we never jump the gun or run in a way to cause others to question our motives.

"Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us..." Heb.12:1

I need to plan my future but I need to run a good race.  I need to plan it out and live life as to win the prize at the end of the race, but I also need to run the race cleanly so that others watching will realize I have not "jumped the gun" or run in a way that could cost me the prize.

Run to try to win, but run with the intent of finishing, and never jump the gun or make others question the motive behind your race.

I'll see you later!