The Ultimate Human Race

People refer to the Comrades Marathon (89km’s of Running / walking / crawling) as the Ultimate Human race, but is it really? In chatting to Robyn last night about the memory verse for the kids at the Eastside Holiday club for yesterday, she reminded me of the verse in 1 Corinthians 9 Verse 24. It reads “You know that in the race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize. So run to win!”

This is so true. As athletes we are on the never ending quest to be the best and ultimately be the winner or Number ONE! But is this really what matters? Is this really what God wants? Well Yes and No! He does want us to run the race and win but He is not necessarily referring to the sporting race BUT rather the race of life. If we read from verse 25-27, this is made clearer. “All those who compete in the games use self control so they can win the crown. That crown is an earthly thing that lasts only a short time, but our crown will never be destroyed. SO I do not run without a goal. I fight like a boxer who is hitting something – not just the air. I treat my body and make it my slave so that I myself will not be disqualified after I have preached to others” (NCV). So the question then remains, am I running the race of life to honour God, to respect Him and to do what He has commanded me to do? Am I running it with the vigour and enthusiasm required to achieve the end goal and receive the prize? Am I being the boxer who hits with purpose and not just into the air? Am I treating my body with the discipline required to be an elite athlete and in turn ensure I am not disqualified from the Ultimate Human Race?

So too all of us, the sportsmen and the non, run the race with discipline, focus, goal driven enthusiasm and achieve the ultimate result that we have been set out to achieve.

SB