Site Administrator posted on September 12, 2008 16:08
The sight of the New York Triathlon entrant crawling across this finish line left an indelible mark in my mind. He had already finished the 1,500-meter swim and 40-kilometer bike ride portions of the New York City Triathlon and was just steps away from finishing the 10-kilometer run when he reached the end of physical endurance. His brother wrote, “The weather that day was very hot and very humid and his body became dehydrated and heat exhaustion set in. He had to crawl across the finish line because he had expended every last ounce of energy he had.”
Another athlete: “Claire Markwardt of Berkshire High School is my choice for Sportswoman of the Year.” She finished an Ohio High School Track Meet race on a broken leg even though, her coach said afterward, "
she heard it crack about three times while she was running." About a minute and a half in, she took an awkward step and fell, breaking her leg. She tried to get up but tumbled to the ground again. She then crawled across the finish line.
What drives these athletes? The finish line? Their reputation? The resolution of sheer effort? The prize? Paul describes it this way: “Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. . .I beat my body and subdue it, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.” 1 Corinthians 9:25,27
An athlete may possess skills that most of us can only experience vicariously, but as Christians we cannot be limited to being a spectator. Everyone of us can be an athlete on the narrow marathon that leads to God’s Finish Line! “Let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us,. . . In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.” Hebrews 12:1,4