RISE
Day Forty-six – It is day Forty-six and we are a day behind. We have been a day behind since the beginning….just so you are aware. See, we didn’t start our RISE Series until the second day of the week…a Monday. Pentecost will fall on this coming Lord’s Day and Passover would have fallen on a Saturday. If we started on a Monday then we are a day behind, but that is okay.
You see, this transformation is not a sprint…not a race at all really. If it were it would be more like the foot races called “steeple chase.” Runners not only have to race a particular distance, but have to navigate various obstacles along the way – jumps, hurdles, hills, water, etc. But, it is not a race in the sense that we are competing to see who gets first or second or third. It’s all a matter of simply finishing.
Years ago I entered a couple of marathons and finished them both. I didn’t set any records, bot I didn’t bring up the rear either. When I entered, however, I didn’t give a thought to the idea of winning, in the sense of beating everyone else. I simply wanted to beat me. Conquer the thoughts and feelings that would tell me “you can’t do it” or “give up, it’s too hard.” I may be dead last, but I was going to finish the course, striving to the best of my ability, looking to the finish.
In our spiritual race and transformation we look ahead toward Christ and set our mind on the finish, whether or not we are a day behind everyone else. Today is day Forty-six. Keep looking ahead. Push to the finish and genuine change and growth, which is not the end of the fifty days, but rather the ends of our days here on earth. Today is day Forty-six. You are a day behind and that is okay!
