Praise the Lord for this beautiful and very blessed day filled with the
promises of our Lord whose mercies are new every morning. I love the
summer season - the longer days and shorter nights. I love the hot
and humid days accompanied by torrential rains stunning thunders and spectacular
rainbows. The Lord of all creation displays His splendor and
majesty. We have had some wonderful and life-giving rains here in Central
New York. The Lord has drenched the earth. The
farms, pastures, gardens, and fields look jubilant and exotic, all a
luscious green. We see a foretaste of Fall here an there, displaying its
many colors.
I
spent some time yesterday at the Local Civic Center hanging around with people
who assemble there on a daily basis. We laugh, we tell stories, and we
pray. I was talking to one gentleman who was reading a magazine published
by World War 2 veterans. He shared with me that when turned 17 he
hitchhiked to Syracuse from Cortland to enlist in the US Navy. He was
accepted and he hitchhiked back home that afternoon to share about
his enlistment. Then he hitchhiked back to Syracuse the next day to
join the Navy. This event was in 1944. He deployed in the Atlantic
Fleet. He shared how served in the Navy with a great patriotic
spirit. He returned home after the war and got married, started his
family, and started his own business that he ran successfully for 40
years. His wife died 10 years ago. He lives in his own house.
He drives his own car, He is 90 years old. He is a committed Christian
who loves the Lord, loves the church, loves this great country, and loves
people. He comes to the Civic center faithfully every
weekday.
Alice
and I walked in the city center and around the town in the evening until the
gathering clouds showed streaks of lightning. The Evening wind was
gentle, cool, and invigorating.
Our
church is hosting a community wide dinner this evening starting at 4:30 PM
. We will be serving seasonal comfort foods. The dinner will continues to
6:00 PM.
Praise
the Lord for the Olympic Games. The best and the most gifted athletes of
the world congregate once every four years to demonstrate and display
their talents and gifts. My family has been watching the Olympics between
other family commitments and events. It is impressive to watch the
endurance, tenacity, courage, devotion, dedication, and
sacrifice of the athletes. In the words of Paul, the Christian life is
depicted as running the race.
Gordon McDonald writes about an experience in high school. He says, “Running track in my prep school days taught me a valuable lesson. I was at the Pennsylvania Relays, a famous Eastern track meet, and our relay team was going to run in the championship race. I was the lead-off man and in the second lane. The man in the first lane held the 100-meter dash record for prep school runners. He also held a record for arrogance. . . . When I got to the line and we were putting our starting blocks down, he said, ‘May the best man win. I’ll be waiting for you at the finish line.’ We went into the blocks. The gun sounded. He took off, and the other seven of us settled in behind him. We went around the first turn and down the back stretch. About 180 meters into the race, I suddenly saw the record holder in front of me, holding his side, bent over, and groaning as he jogged along. We all passed him like he was standing still. Because I’m such a gentleman, I waited for him at the finish line. At the end of the race my coach took me aside. ‘I hope you’ve learned a lesson today. It makes little difference whether you hold the record for the 100-meter dash if the race is 400-meters long.’”
The race we are in is a long one, and it calls for endurance not speed. It’s not how you begin the race, but how you finish that counts. As the Bible says, “This calls for patient endurance and faithfulness on the part of the saints” (Revelation 13:10). When McDonald was running that race, he could have given up. He could have said, “This is useless, I’m not going to win the race anyway.” He could have let what others said discourage him, but he ran the race with his whole heart. He did not give up. He did not quit. He did not run half-heartedly. He gave it all he had. His coach commended him for it, and reminded him at the end that it was because he was a long distance runner that he finished the race well. The Bible says, “The race is not to the swift or the battle to the strong” (Ecclesiastes 9:11). The race is to those who have learned to endure. They wait with patience. They wait expectantly. They live in faithfulness to God whether their faithfulness seems to be noticed and rewarded or not. Hear the Word of God that says, “They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint” (Isaiah 40:31, KJV).
In Christ,
Brown
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