Keeping Up With the Jones

Have you ever met those people that put you to shame in every area of your life? You know the ones that can accomplish something in 20 minutes that would take anyone else several hours even days to finish. Sometimes I would like to be able to say at the end of the day that I...

...solved world hunger

...ran 18 miles in four minutes without breaking a sweat

...climbed Mount Everest

...wrote and published 4 books before eating my Wheaties

...swam the English Channel

...learned to speak Hungarian

...built a rocket that could fly to Neptune

...touched the North Pole

...memorized Sonatina in F Movement II on my tuba

...was unanimously voted president

...parted the Red Sea with my walking stick

...grew world renown lemons from seed to fruit in 2 hours

...fixed the Rubik Cube

...memorized the Old Testament

...cooked a Carmel souffle in my microwave

...chugged a 12-pack of Dr. Pepper in 3 minutes

...got up at four o' clock in the morning to feed my prize-winning chinchillas

...painted an exact replica of the Mona Lisa

...got a perfect score on the SAT

...built a life-sized medieval catapult for my history project

Fortunately, we are told in the Bible no to compare ourselves and our accomplishments to others. If we want to be content, we must come to realize that God created everyone for different purposes and with different gifts.

We must choose to use our gifts to honor and glorify the Lord, and even though we may never invent a new kind of awesome hand lotion or fly to Neptune, we must choose to only be concerned with how we appear to God. And we already know that He loves us.

Romans 12: 6-8 We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man's gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith. If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully.

Running. Don't Stop.

Running. Running. Always running. My body is screaming for me to stop. The sweat drips into my eyes, down my face, off my chin, and my hands refuse to quit shaking. As my heart pounds in my ears, I push on. The crisp morning breeze feels cool to my flushed face. I envision myself racing along the golden streets cutting through alleyways and leaping over anything that bars my path. The early morning sunlight pierces through the leaves of the trees overhead as I press on. Running. Running. Always running. Just placing one foot ahead of the other. Concentrating all my focus and thoughts on the goal: to finish the race.

I am not trying to pass any of the other runners; I just want to cross the finish line knowing that I did my best, gave my all. I glance quickly at my feet which I can't feel anymore. They seem mechanical, never stopping, never resting, never pausing long enough for me to catch my breath. I will eventually have to rest, the strength in my legs and lungs won't last forever.

I knew the race would be long and strenuous when I chose to run it, but even my training couldn't have prepared me for this. My lungs are flaming, and, feeling faint, I refuse to stop knowing that if I stop to rest, I will never be able to start running again. As I mentally wrestle with these thoughts, my legs give out from under me, and I crumple to the ground as a sharp pain shoots from my hip down my leg. The pain in my hip is worse than the pain of my flaming lungs.

Slowly rising, I think of only one thing: the finish line. I have already started the race; I must finish. Can't quit. Don't stop. Keep running. Running. Running. Always running.

I can see it: the finish line. It isn't far, just over that little grassy knoll. Don't stop running. Don't stop. It's so close. "Just a little farther," I tell myself. Ten more steps. Five more. Two. I step on the tape as I cross the line. Pulling up, I collapse on the lawn just past the finish line.

I did it. I finished, and well. No, I wasn't first, but that isn't important. I did my best, and that is all that God requires of me.

Acts 20:24 "However, I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the gospel of God's grace."