It’s Never Too Late To Begin!

For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ.

2 Corinthians 5:10

In 1980, a young woman named Rosie Ruiz was declared the winner of the women’s division of the Boston Marathon—but not for long. It was discovered this was only her second marathon, she never practiced, and none of the other runners had seen her during the race. She had ridden a subway sixteen miles, entered the race near the end, and crossed the finish line first.

Perhaps as the marathon approached, Ms. Ruiz realized she had waited too late to begin training. Instead of cheating, she should have run the best race she could and gained the prize of satisfaction and a clear conscience.

Like the Boston Marathon, the Christian life is a long-distance race (2 Timothy 4:7; Hebrews 12:1). Every participant will stand before the final Judge, Jesus Christ, and be evaluated on how he or she has run. But unlike the Boston Marathon, the Christian life is a “grace race.” We will be judged not on being first but on being faithful. Did we use time, talent, and treasure for His glory? Did we run the best race we could with the gifts we have?

Regardless of how you’ve run in the past, today is the day to get in the race! Don’t worry about where you place. Just be there at the end!