Look Near-Look Afar

When running the race we must look afar, but to make it happen we must look at what's near. Let me explain how we adapt our viewpoint to make the race easier.

First off, the righteous life of a Christian is a race.

1 Corinthians 9:24 "Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain."

Paul was writing about a spiritual race. However, unlike races we know, there are obstacles which deter each runner. Many run, but only one wins the prize. In order to win that coveted prize one must run the race. The race is an allegory for a life of faith. The prize is allegorical the hope of heaven. Having the eye on the finish line represents faith.

I run every other day and bicycle the opposite days. Before I run or ride, I set a goal. It's either finishing a given distance or a distance in a certain time. The prize is a sense of accomplishment when I run, along with the hope of a long life. Living a long life in itself is not a reward unless it's a healthy pain free life. A secondary reward of exercise is improved health.

Each morning Satan gives me multiple excuses why not to run or bicycle: It might rain, be too cold, or too hot. I can't run with a cold, sore muscles or a stiff back, let alone with tendinitis.  These excuses are a temptation for me to be lazy. The devil likes lazy people because they are those who don't even consider their eternal destiny! They never even consider the race because they fail to even look at the goal!

While I'm running, Satan puts obstacles in my path. They are hurdles which must be overcome! It may be a pebble in my shoe, someone desiring to talk as I run by, a long or high hill, or just rough terrain. When biking, the traffic may be too bad or someone nearly hits me. I endure all these things most days because to make my goal, I must accomplish each hurdle.

One hurdle when bicycling is when to avoid traffic. It's necessary for my safety that I ride on the shoulder of the highway. There are noise bumps on the outer stripe and the pavement stops a few inches beyond that. In order to ride on, but yet be safe, I must ride that narrow beam of road.

If I look near just in front of my bicycle, one of two things happen: either I get stuck on the noise bumps and get a really rough ride, or I ride off the edge of the road. Looking near makes one overcompensate. I am looking at the here and now, not what's ahead. Because I'm not aware of what's beyond my front wheel, that is not taken into consideration when I turn my handlebars.

The solution to this is looking off in a distance. I aim far down the road, not just at what's near. It's really a mathematics problem. If I triangulate over a short distance, the angle of my wheel as I ride is a wide angle. On the other hand if I triangulate far down the road, the angle of the wheel as I ride is a narrow angle. Hence, by looking far ahead the path is straight. If I look just near my wheel my overall path is a series of wide angles, some of which may run me right off he road! The prize (staying on my path until I get there) is won of I keep my eyes on where I'm going, not where I am!

Now for the interpretation. Between now and my death is the race. At the end of my life there is a reward. Few who run the race will be rewarded. Fortunately it is more than one, but it will be few!

Matthew 7:14 "Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it."

This allegory represents the road to eternal life! A straight gate is a narrow passage. It's righteous living made possible by faith.  Few will even choose to run the race. There are hurdles which hinder even running the race! It may be apathy, deception, pleasure and any host of things.  Even for those who make the race (being born-again) they must still follow a narrow path which leads to eternal life, the goal of every Christian.

 Hebrews 3:12 "Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God."

The living God is in heaven. That's the road few take, but if you are a Christian, you are on that road! Satan has two jobs:1) He tries to keep you from entering the gate, but if you are blessed enough to get through that strait gate, 2) Satan erects hurdles for the Christian to prevent the runner from ever reaching the goal.  Satan wins if you "depart from the living God".   You win the prize if you endure, or stay on the path, until the race is over:

Matthew 10:22 And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.

Each Christian looks far down the road to the goal. It's heaven we see in the distance. To get there we all must endure. We can swerve some to the left and some to the right, but we can't run off the road. That's eternally fatal if we take our eye off the prize. We aren't bicycling (sic) by ourselves, but we steered by God himself. The Holy Spirit guides us down the road! Our faith keeps us on the right path (righteous) because as disciples of Christ we go where he leads. As such we hope to finish the race with him, and as such, we have "the hope of salvation".

1 Thessalonians 5:8 "But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation."

Salvation is where we end up at the end of the road. Until we get there, God guarantees us safe passage as long as we remain true to him! Take a look at this:

Acts 2:21 "And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved."

Not only does the King James Translation indicate that salvation is sometimes after following the Lord, but we can't tell from this whether it is right after or  way down the road. However, if we look at the Greek sozo it means literally "safety"! We aren't yet "saved", but are made "safe" resulting in "the hope of salvation" as Paul wrote.  Because we're not yet "saved", but are riding safely down the road, Satan goes to and fro (Job 1:7) trying to run us off the road!  If we endure his roadblocks and keep our eyes on the goal, our safety leads to salvation. Because "narrow is the way" few will remain true to God.

Point 1 has just been made. To stay on the road, a Christian must look afar. Things near makes us waver and fall off the path. To reach our goal we must look far ahead, not on things temporal but on heavenly things! That keeps our bicycle (sic) stable. A metastable Christian is one who Satan is swerving off the path of righteousness.

Now for point 2. Sometimes when I run a race my goal is afar; to get up the hill, but it's a high hill,and I get discouraged. I think of all the pain and energy drain to make it to the top and get discouraged. If I only focus on the goal that encouragement is there, but the reward is too far off. I may get discouraged and quit. I ask myself "This is too hard, is it worth the struggle?" A inner voice tells me "Just give up! You'll never make it." Of course keeping the eye on the prize IS enough, but the flesh is weak.

Matthew 26:41 "Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak."

I want to make it up the high hill. I want it in my heart. I want to so that I can win the race! However, when I get tired and discouraged, the flesh (my body) get's weak and gives up. Also, I may give up for pleasure. Someone on the sideline has a cup of water. "Boy, do I need that!" I think. Pleasure makes me weak. either way, I may give up, if tempted, to make myself feel better. That's doing what I want to do rather than keeping my eye on the goal.

The hill looks high, but I know it's attainable because many before me have successfully climbed the hill. Therefore, there is a strategy. I want to make the hill, but I can focus on what's directly in front of me. If I look afar, the hill is high, but if I look right at my feet the ground is level there! I can make that level step although I'm not so sure about the high hill. Before I know it, I'm up the hill by taking many short level steps. In effect I look at the goal long enough to be committed to the race, but then I take it one step at a time. Each step is meeting the short term goal; a strategy for winning the race!

As the song says "One day at a time sweet Jesus" (Cristy Lane). That's how we finish the race. It's taking the impossible and accomplishing one step at a time. That's faith!

Ephesians 2:8 "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:"

I make it up the hill by faith in me. That's a worldly goal. However, for salvation, it's a spiritual goal. I can make it because if I have faith that eternal life is there, it's mine for free. It's not because I deserve to win the prize, but because I am given the chance even though I'm a sinner. I shouldn't even be a qualifier for the race, but I am allowed to run even though I can't qualify. Being "good" is not a qualification to be a runner. In fact it's a hindrance. I run just as I am without preparation because God gives me the strength. He fuels me. However, trusting that God fuels me and I can endure the hills, I continue to run through faith. It's confidence that God will give me the reward he says, even though I don't deserve it!

As I run up the hill, a voice tells me to give up. I know that I can make it because it is real and obtainable. That's faith. Likewise, because God says so, heaven is real and it is obtainable. It's the gift God gives to me because of love. It's a real place; a real reward!

 John 14:2 "In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you."

I have faith that God is truthful. I run the race because God says that a reward is there. My believing in him and his power is my faith. At the top of the hill is"my Father's house"! Each step each day without looking at the high hill gets me closer to the reward:

Romans 13:11 "And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed."

When I was fourteen my salvation seemed far off. As such I looked too closely at what was just ahead. Satan nearly steered me right off the road several times. Now, I clearly see what once was far ahead. It was walking gingerly each day in faith knowing that the prize was off in the distance. Now it's "nearer than when I first believed". The race is worth the running because I'm almost there. I'm safe because of grace, and hope to make it to the end; the day of salvation!