Stay In It

I have been in Duluth, GA this week for our state executive committee meeting as well as staff meetings.  The December installment is always a great time because of the Christmas season and the parties and gatherings that accompany it. 

At our Annual Staff/Retiree Christmas luncheon our former Exec. Director (Jim Griffith) related a story about Cecil B. DeMille and Charlton Heston in the filming of Ben Hur.  I went online and googled the story and found the following information.

When they began working on the movie Ben Hur, Cecil B. DeMille talked to Charlton Heston--the star of the movie--about the all-important chariot race at the end. He decided Heston should actually learn to drive the chariot himself, rather than just using a stunt double. Heston agreed to take chariot-driving lessons to make the movie as authentic as possible.

Learning to drive a chariot with horses four abreast, however, was no small matter. After extensive work and days of practice, Heston returned to the movie set and reported to DeMille.

"I think I can drive the chariot all right, Cecil," said Heston, "but I'm not at all sure I can actually win the race."

Smiling slightly, DeMille said, "Heston, you just stay in the race, and I'll make sure you win."

The Christian life is a race that we are challenged to run well.  There are times, however, that the struggle to run well is huge.  We try, but it seems that our efforts fall short.  We struggle just to stay in the race.
 
The world rewards those that come in first. There is a huge disparity between the prize and prestige of the winner and the runners-up, and there is no recognition for those that finishes near the end or are last.

God, however, operates and rewards differently than the way the world does. In Matthew 10:22, Jesus said that the one that endures until the end will be saved. You don’t have to be in the lead. You don’t have to be passing everyone up in a cloud of dust. All you have to do as a Christian is to stay in the race! “So run, that ye may obtain.”  Everyone that stays in this race is a winner.

Child of God, you just stay in the race and He will see that you win.