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Get Back in the Race

"We want each of you to show the same diligence to the very end, in order to make your hope sure."  Hebrews 6:11

I married into a family where racing and speed runs through their veins.  Whether it be actually sitting behind the wheel of a racecar or riding vicariously in the car of the racers on TV, they are racers through and through.

Every Sunday from February until November, you can almost guarantee that our day will consist of:  Church, Lunch, Couch (to watch a race)!  As the racing season kicked off yesterday with one of the biggest races of the year, I was reminded that it takes a lot to keep a racecar driver from finishing the race.

Their car has to be practically annihilated to keep that driver from wanting to crawl back in and cross the finish line with the rest of the pack.  If a wreck has caused them to go to the garage for repairs, they'll quickly do whatever needs to be done and head back to the track, even knowing that there is no feasible way for them to actually win the race.

For Christians, everyday is a race.  Everyday is a day that we've been given to serve God with all we've got and to not quit, no matter what may derail us.

Maybe circumstances in life have taken you out of the race for a time.  Maybe you've fallen on hard times financially.  Maybe your marriage is struggling.  Maybe you're grieving  due to the death of a loved one.  Whatever your circumstances have been, God desires to see you jump back behind the wheel of your life and not let your crash keep you from finishing strong.

The writer of Hebrews spends a lot of time reminding us that persevering to the end is vital for the believer.  Our life is a testimony before God and our fellow man and our actions speak louder than any words that could ever come out of our mouth.  Christ's followers are called to be diligent and follow God to the end, just as Christ did.

Trust me when I say that you can likely expect a "crash" at some point in time in your life.  Jesus' half brother James tells us that believers who get back in the race after the "crashes" of life will grow in their Christian maturity.  Where a person will never "complete you" (as Hollywood would like for you to believe) James says these "crashes" in life will actually complete you. 
 
"Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.  Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking in anything.  James 1:2-4
 
So, are you still in the race?  Persevering to the end is important.  If you've been resigned to sit in the garage because of a crash on the track, God wants you to get back out there.  Starting strong is great, but staying in the race and finishing strong is greater.
 
Ask God today to help you be diligent in your Christian walk and see it through to the end.  Don't let a circumstance in life keep you from living the life God has called you to live.  God desires for those circumstances to make us stronger, not take us out of the race.  

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