Week Seventeen, 2018
RUN TO WIN
Don’t you realize that in a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize? So run to win! 1 Corinthians 9:24
Aric Almirola walked from the infield care center and back to the garage area at Daytona International Speedway. His day was done, and with it a dream, the biggest you can have. “My heart is broken,” Almirola said.
He was a handful of seconds from history. He had grabbed the lead before the white flag dropped and was going down the backstretch and he was going to win the Daytona 500. He was in the lead, heading for home. A nudge. A tap. That was all it took.
Austin Dillon’s front bumper touched Almirola’s rear bumper. And that was that. The race leader spun and wrecked. Dillon won the Daytona 500. “I did everything I could,” Almirola said. “I put myself in a position to win the Daytona 500. I did everything to try to win.”
He was less than a lap from living the dream he began having as a child, when his family traveled to Daytona’s high banks to watch the racing. Winning the 500 was a dream in his racing career.
Race!
Jesus calls us to be winners… winners for Him. In the race of life, we all participate, but not everyone wins. Usually the race is whatever is in our heart. It may be advancing to be the CEO of your company, winning an election or making a million dollars.
The Christian life is a race. In other words life is not a game with no lasting consequences. The way we live our lives has eternal consequences. Life is a proving ground where we prove who we are, whom we trust, and what we cherish. Eternal life, the upward call, the crown of righteousness — all these hang on what our life says about who we are, whom we trust, and what we love.
What are you running to win?
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SOMETIMES TRUE STORIES
THE WARNING:
Every hour on the hour in the ancient market square of Krakow, Poland, a trumpeter steps up to the drafty window of St Mary’s Basilica’s tallest tower and plays a tune called the “hejnal.”
The simple yet haunting piece is repeated four times, each time facing a different cardinal direction. This beautifully unique tradition is done 365 days a year to honor a brave watchman who gave his life in the 13th century in defense of his little town of Krakow.
Story has it the watchman spotted a growing cloud of dust in the distance and realized a Tartar invasion was on its way to bring horror and misery to his people. The watchman seized his trumpet and belted out a warning prodding the sleepy village to spring into action and protect its innocent inhabitants. The clever musical siren was a success and the enemy was fended off, but at a high price.
The brave watchman was shot through the throat by an arrow from the enemy’s leader. The last note of this commemorative tune is a long half note to represent the last sound played by the trumpeter as he was murdered.
How will you be remembered?
–o–
Obituary:
Joe’s wife passed away and he wanted to keep the obituary as short as possible, so he penned “Sally Smith died.” When the funeral home told him that the minimum wordage was six words, he added “Car for sale.”
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QUOTES YOU CAN USE
Someday you will read or hear that Billy Graham is dead. Don’t you believe a word of it. I shall be more alive than I am now. I will just have changed my address. I will have gone into the presence of God. —Billy Graham.
I knew the end of the story, just like the Bible. —Winston Churchill
How will young people learn to love The Lord if they don’t see that love being modeled for them? Dwight Short
It’s just as hard to attain satisfaction and success from attaining goals we don’t have as it is to get pleasure from reminiscing about things we haven’t done. —Ernie J. Zelinski
Positive thinking is of zero value without positive doing. —Robert Sharma
None are so good they need not be saved – None are so bad they cannot be saved. —Ken Whitten
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©2018 John Grant | Florida State Senator (Ret.) | 10025 Orange Grove Drive | Tampa, FL 33618