The Race of Life: “Lean Forward and Run Through the Tape!” (Tactics 5 & 6)

As we learn to hear and respond to our Trainer while we run the race of life, we’ll increasingly avoid the snares and distractions of our opponent. As we apply our Trainer’s proven exercises and methods, we’ll finally enter the homestretch of the race, and sprint to the tape! To finish these final phases well, we’ll need to employ two final tactics. Before we discuss them, let’s briefly look at the snares and entanglements used by our adversary as well as our Trainer’s antidotes.

As we run, we encounter the following hindrances and snares: (1) unbelief, (2) complacency and compromise, (3) self-righteousness, (4) the fear, or desire for approval, of man, (5) love of sensual or fleshly pleasure, (6) a worldly mindset or paradigm of life, (7) self-confidence, (8) hubris or arrogance, and (9) distracting and ungodly thoughts.

As countermeasures to help us stay fit and avoid these snares, our Trainer uses the following exercises: (1) faith in God and His Word, (2) the eternal perspective of life, (3) meekness in serving others, (4) trust in God’s opinion of us, (5) a stewardship focus on God’s Kingdom, (6) embracing the narrow path or the Way of the Cross, (7) humility, (8) accurate self-assessment, and (9) taking every thought captive to Jesus.  These practices will help us over, around, and through the obstacles. God helps us, when we engage in disciplined training and practice, to build our skills in using these methods and contending for the prize.

We must remain clear on our overarching purpose to ‘finish well’ and fulfill the eternal potential our Lord has given each of us. Sure, we catch a toe or trip a bit once in a while, but our stride is sure and our Trainer is always with us encouraging and teaching us new ways to press on to the Master’s goal for us… our personal best!

Let’s now turn to our last two race tactics as we learn to apply our Trainer’s positive exercises so we can keep a steady, fruitful pace.

Tactic 5 in Finishing Well is develop and fight to maintain a teachable spirit and lifetime learning. We will never know it all, exhaust all of our learning opportunities, or be as wily as our adversary. Given our status and our assignment, complacency is a rot that we cannot afford! As we run, our Trainer is constantly shaping us to conform more and more to our Master’s ways by teaching us new things. As snares and weaknesses surface that we were previously blind to, He will show us new ways of using the exercises to resist and overcome them. Over time, He leads us in exercises aimed at endurance building, weight training, relaxation, speed, and flexibility. But one thing’s for sure: there will never be a time when we don’t need to learn more from, or about, our Master. Our race is a single, long cross-country run that involves a lifelong process of learning and training that only ends with our last breath! Whew!

Tactic 6 is develop and fight to maintain a heart to help others finish well.  One of the very best ways to learn is to prepare to teach others. Ask any Sunday School teacher and they’ll undoubtedly tell you that they learn much more than their students from each class. So, offering ourselves to help others learn to run and finish well is a great benefit because it’s a “twofer!” By giving of and through ourselves, we help two run at the same time! What a deal! Our Trainer helps us here as well. If we ask Him, He will match us up with others who we’re perfectly suited to connect with and may have stepped in some of the same snares that we’ve wrestled with in the past. Our omniscient Trainer knows just who, when, and how to connect us! It doesn’t matter where we are in our race, there’s always someone we can help. In our review before our Master on ‘that day,’ how well we’ve helped others will matter… big-time! One of the best things we can do for others is to reach out and give them a hand to step onto the track and start running with us, He loves that!

Our Master promises to review what we’ve done with the opportunities He’s given us while in the Body (2Cor 5:10). This post-race evaluation and awards ceremony happens for every runner. The evaluation isn’t comparing us with other runners as if we were competing with them. It only reviews how we did compared to the potential personal best He gave us the opportunity to run. While the salvation of those who confess faith in Christ is assured, our Master will have some prizes and awards for us depending on how well we run that will be wonderful beyond words! The very best reward will be to see Him smile and to hear Him say, “Well done! Great race!”

Let’s summarize our six tactics in running the race of life: we are to develop and fight to maintain: (1) the eternal perspective of life, (2) intimacy with Jesus, (3) self-discipline, (4) open and accountable relationships, (5) a teachable spirit and lifetime learning, and (6) a heart to help others finish well.   These six tactics combine in a God-given synergistic way that only our Master and Trainer can, one day, explain to us. We simply know that they will serve to see us through the snares and entanglements, overcome the sins and temptations of our adversary, roar through the tape, and finish well!

Buck Jacobs, AfC
Founder & Chairman
The C12 Group: Building GREAT Businesses for a GREATER Purpose
America’s Leading Christian CEO Roundtable Provider since 1992
www.C12Group.com