A Race Well Run

The apostle Paul wrote in Philippians 3 about such qualities as perseverance and tenacity:
12Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me.13Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead,14I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

These verses can be greatly encouraging to us as we develop the mindset of the Christian life as a race - a long-distance marathon, during which there will be challenges, yet God gives us confidence.   There will be failures, but our faith can sustain us.   We may feel disappointed at times, but God will give us great determination.  So we run in the strength of the Lord and we depend on Him for the resources we need.   And, over the course of the race, He will perform His work in and through us, building character and drawing us closer to Himself.

In 1st Corinthians 9, we see an analogy that likens the Christian life to running a race - we are called to run it well, to train and compete, so that we bring glory to God:
24Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it.25And everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown.26Therefore I run thus: not with uncertainty. Thus I fight: not as one who beats the air.27But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified.

A remarkable feat took place at Sunday's New York Marathon.   Certainly, at the head of the pack, you saw runners who have trained relentlessly to compete in the race.    But, well behind the leaders, you had another amazing accomplishment - Jimmy Jenson, who is the first person with Down Syndrome to complete the race.

According to the TODAY show website, Jimmy is 48 years old and ran the race with friend Jennifer Davis at his side.   They met 12 years ago through the program, Best Buddies, which aims to connect people who have intellectual disabilities with people who do not.

When Jimmy and Jennifer met, neither of them were runners.  That changed when Jenson suggested they run a 5K together. Since that first race, the pair have run a number of races together, including the Los Angeles marathon this spring.

Since he's taken up running, Jenson has lost 69 pounds, but Davis says she's seen a change in his personality, too. When she first met him, she told TODAY, "He would sit in the corner, kind of cross-legged.  He's become so much more outgoing."

Jenson and Davis finished their race in just over eight hours, and Jenson encouraged other runners along the way -- he told them if he could keep going, then so could they.

Wow!   Not only is this a heartwarming story, but it can provide some lessons that are consistent with our faith.

First of all, we have to recognize that people with disabilities have great potential, and we can affirm and encourage them.   We acknowledge that God has given every created human being, a special purpose, with unique gifts, and we should not discount a person's ability just because there may be physical challenges.

Also, Jimmy Jenson demonstrates for us the power of perseverance.   He may not have finished ahead of everyone else, but he finished, and in the course of preparing for and participating in the race, there were certain effects - he lost almost 70 pounds, and his personality changed: he became more outgoing and in fact during the race, he was reaching out to other runners and encouraging them.   Our long-term challenges can produce results for God's glory and He molds character in us as we persevere.

Finally, there is the concept that we need one another.  In the Christian life, we need people around us that will encourage us and even hold us accountable.   God has structured the body of Christ in a way that the individual parts are interconnected and dependent on one another.   That is why the Scriptures teach unity among members of the Lord's church and cautions that disunity will limit the way that the body functions.   We have fellow believers, and we don't have to live the Christian life alone.

Jimmy Jenson can inspire us to overcome our challenges and run the race of life with confidence and dependence on God.