Stay The Course

We get caught in the daily grind and forget so easily that we have a glorious “latter end” to achieve the Lord and His Son Jesus Christ.  Life often has been compared to a race or a marathon. Hopefully, we are all working towards successfully crossing the finish life of our mortal existence.  Yet, successful or not, each one of us, as mortal beings reach the same end.

Everyone finishes the race. It doesn't matter how long it takes, we all reach the same finish line. What does matter is how we get to the end of our personal course. 

Some of us will race through to the end without stopping; some of us will walk across that finish line after a long journey. Some of us will only be able to crawl across that line.

The race can be long and hard. Sometimes it’s rocky or uphill under beating sun with no rest or breaks. There are many along our paths that advertise quick and easier ways. Less stress, less guilt with more comfort they call as clear as ancient sirens. They offer us short cuts to make our progress easier.

However, experience teaches that there are no short cuts for anyplace worth going. Taking a so-called easier way can more often than not ends up poorly.  

For example, a friend, as part of a group, undertook a two-day foot trek to a nearby town. Because my friend’s group took a short cut, they got lost and the trip ended up being much longer and more dangerous. If they had stuck to the trusted and known road to the town, they would have not gotten lost or spent so much time on their journey.

Do we take short cuts on our journey on our race to the end? Do we justify straying from the race path because we’re not “really going that far off?”  However, every small or large step off the race track leads us farther and farther from the safety of the marked course.  Soon we may find ourselves out of sight of the signs and guides towards the race’s end.

When we reach our finish line, we won’t be measured by the clock ticks but by our heart’s efforts.  We will be evaluated not by the miles but by our earnest efforts.  In our journey, did we cheat? Did we quit? Did we leave the course? Did we not even try? Did we overcome our obstacles or did we let them overcome us?

Much of the time on our course towards the end, we can no longer run. We often find ourselves barely able to even do much more than crawl forward, weighed down by trials, suffering and pain. Yet, we don’t run the race alone. We have someone running by our side, our champion, cheerleader, coach and friend, Jesus Christ.  After all we can do, after our last breath is spent on our course, when we can not even put one foot in front of the other, we will be lifted and carried by our Brother, our Friend, Jesus Christ.  When we've valiantly pushed and pushed all we can, we will lifted by His hands. 

Never give up. Keep going if all you can do is inch forward.  Don’t quit moving because the pathway is too hard or you don’t see an end in sight.  The goal is real; the reward is beyond our understanding. Stay on the course.

Do not feel that you have been abandoned to run your race alone. Reach out and call upon the Lord and His Son Jesus Christ through the power of the Holy Ghost, so you may triumphantly reach the end of your course so you declare as did Timothy in New Testament, that "I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith." (2 Timothy 4:7)