Running For Nothing

Yesterday's ODB's article was about a runner who joined the Marathon, finished the race, but... found out that the chip-- the device that was put on his shoe to record progress at various timing stations during the race, was not on his shoe anymore. He lost it somewhere.

In the official's record, the runner did not run the race. There would be no record of his participation. Even if he had finished the race in record time, it wouldn't have mattered. Apparently, the poor runner have been traversing 30 miles on foot with nothing to show for it. The folks who organize the race set the rules, and no matter how well someone runs, if the officials says the runner doesn't qualify, that's the way it is.

It is the same way with our lives. Sometimes we are so busy participating some mission works. We wearied ourselves with the church activities. It appears to be we are having a good race doing and participating, but if we don't have the right motives on what we are doing, if we only did it , or join them for some self-centered reason, we are not participating the mission or any church activities. If our motives is not obedience and to glorify God. We may thought we have done so many things, but on heaven's account, we did nothing. And even dreadful if we found out, our name was not on the runner's list.

Life is a race. Let's keep running... but we better make sure that we carry with us the right motives.

"Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us..." Hebrews 12:1 NIV