Hebrews 12:1
Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, 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..
–DAILY READING • Acts 21:1-36; Judges 16; Psalm 42
Thousands of years ago in Greece, there was a race called a torch race. At the start of this race, they would light the fire and runners would run with the torch. You could only win if you finished with your torch still lit. They had to protect their fire. This idea has been modernized in the Olympic torch relay. The lighting of the Olympic torch is a key feature of every opening ceremony of the Olympic games. This flame that is first lit in Greece, would be carried in a relay race by different runners across different countries for thousands of miles, unquenched, until it arrives to the host country. This idea of the Olympic flame relay was first practiced at the 1936 berlin Olympics. After the torch was lit by a concave mirror in Greece, the flame was transported over 3,187 kilometres by 3,331 runners in twelve days and eleven nights, from Greece to Berlin. And as this practice has been followed over the years, the Olympic torch has passed through quite some interesting routes. It has been carried on an expedition through the North Pole, it has even been carried by astronauts through outer space before arriving the host country. At the Sochi 2014 Olympics, three torchbearers in full diving gear passed the flame to each other, underwater, in lake Baikal, the world’s deepest lake. The flame was able to stay lit under water due to a special burner designed for it. The whole idea of this Olympic torch relay, is to keep the flame burning through the different routes it has to take.
The same way, in the race of life, you need to guard your fire. You need to keep your light burning no matter what route you take. The journey of life can take us through different roads, some good, some not so pleasant. But whichever road we take, we must keep our fire burning. During the torch race in ancient Greece, the prize wasn’t awarded to the team that ran fastest—it was awarded to the first team to reach the finish line with its torch still lit. While it is important to start the race, what is more important is to ensure we finish with our light still burning. We must always guard our fire.
This fire inside, burning bright in every regenerated soul, is the undying zeal and passion for Christ. This is the fire of The Spirit ignited in our hearts the moment we receive salvation. And we must keep it burning brighter and brighter. With this fire in you , you are a force to reckon with, a wind of change, a life on a mission. When a man is on fire, he is like a city set on an hill that cannot be hidden. Like a forest fire – you can smell it, taste it, and see it from a mile away. Dwigt L Moody said ‘We are told to let our light shine, and if it does, we won’t need to tell anybody it does. Lighthouses don’t fire cannons to call attention to their shining – they just shine.’ Apostle Paul tells us that as sons of God we are to shine like stars in a dark world. Gross moral darkness covers the earth and sin abounds everywhere, it is in this crooked and depraved generation that we are to shine for the Lord. As the gross darkness covers the earth , it is the fire burning in us that attracts kings to the brightness of our rising. It is what draws men to Christ. When people see this fire of Christ burning through us they are attracted, warmed and want to have what we have.
This is the fire we must protect as we run the race of life. There were those in the Bible who started their race with their fire burning bright, but ended the race with their fire put out. Typical examples are Samson and King Solomon. They started strong, but didn’t stay strong. When Solomon was young, he “loved the Lord, walking in the statutes of David his father”. God was pleased with him. (1 Kings 3:3-5). However it is sad to note what 1 Kings 11:6 says about the same Solomon later in his life, “Solomon did evil in the sight of the Lord, and went not fully after the Lord” .
Therefore as we run the race let us keep our eyes on Jesus the author and finisher of our faith. As long as we keep looking to Him through daily fellowship in the Word, He will enable us to maintain our fire.
It’s human nature to stumble sometimes, even fail. At such times, we may get discouraged and be tempted to give up believing our light has gone out and our race is lost. But do not let the enemy convince you to drop out of the race. No matter how far we stray, even in the deepest night, if we but step toward Christ, His light will reignite our souls and consume the shadows. After the crucifixion, two discouraged disciples were on the road to Emmaus. When they encountered Jesus on the way their hearts were reignited with fire. [Luke 24:32]. They said to one another, “Did not our heart burn within us while He talked with us on the road, and while He opened the Scriptures to us?”
Just like these disciples when you open up your heart to the Word, and allow The Lord to speak to you, your heart will be reignited. This is why we must maintain daily fellowship with Christ through His Word. If you use up all your fuel, without replenishing, your fire will burn out. If you allow too much time to pass without refueling your fire goes out. Where no wood is, there, the fire goes out. You cannot depend only on the fire you contact from church every Sunday. Keep the fire burning on your personal prayer altar. We are in a personal race. And we are not only to run this race but to finish it with our torch still burning brightly. Jesus promised “He that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved” (Matthew 24:13). Let us therefore run this race that is set before us with patience looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith.
PRAYER: Lord, Your Word is unchanging, and true. By Your Word please keep my light burning as I run the race of life. May my fire never go out in Jesus Name.
quote
Reading The Bible gives you over view, Studying it takes you to depths. – WORDBITE 222.
[ADAPTED FROM THE BOOK FAITH CLASSICS]