"The race is not to the swift or the battle to the strong, nor does food come to the wise or wealth to the brilliant or favor to the learned; but time and chance happen to them all."
-Ecclesiastes 9: 11

The Race

Life can be thought of as a 'race.' A race to acquire wealth (got to get ahead), a race to gain fame or importance, a race to stay 'sane' (the rat race of life), a race against time (to stay young), or all of the above. How hectic this race of life can be. The Book of Ecclesiastes is one of my favorite in the Old Testament. This book makes mention of this 'race of life' (see Ecclesiastes 9: 11 above). No one knows for sure who the author of Ecclesiastes is, although many scholars believe it to be King Solomon (David's son) who also wrote many of the proverbs in the Book of Proverbs. To me, Ecclesiastes, is all about how meaningless this race of life is without God. How do you win this race? By the world's standards you win if you have wealth, fame, beauty, intelligence, power, etc... But where do all of these earthly things get you when life ends? Without faith in a loving, gracious God, it gets you absolutely no where. You lose the race!

I know that I struggle in my own life against the 'trappings of this world.' I can easily find myself running the race for wealth, power, or against my own selfishness. But in the end I know that it is only by the grace of God that I can gain salvation. I am so thankful that we have a loving, understanding, and forgiving Lord in Jesus (see Hebrews 12: 1-2 below) who helps us to run this race of life. Victory (salvation) is only possible through Him.

How is your race going? Are you tired from all the running? I pray that we will not get caught up in the trappings of this world but instead will keep our eyes on the prize (salvation) and trust in the Lord to help us run the race of life.

I pray that all is well with you. Please let me know if you have any prayer concerns or praises. Have a great week and remember to smile :), the Lord loves you!

In Christ,

Shan D. Hartsough

"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. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfector of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God."
-Hebrews 12: 1-2

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