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Stay focused on the Finish Line
LELAND ACKER
Every athlete, competitor, runner, football, softball, baseball and

basketball player must keep his or her eye on the prize to be successful. If you forget why you are doing what you are doing, you are doomed to lose hope and fade away.

Examples of this include the New England Patriots and the UNLV Rebels. New England posted a perfect 16-0 record in the NFL's regular season, but fell short of winning the Superbowl.

UNLV once posted a perfect regular season record in NCAA basketball, but fell short in their bid for a national title. If you lose sight of your goal, your finish line, you will fall short and all of your accomplishments along the way will be forgotten.

I have watched people do this in sports, life and with their spiritual lives. I, too, have been guilty of the same.

Hebrews 12:2 says "Looking unto Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him, endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set at the right hand of the Father."

This verse teaches us that while we run the race of life, we must continue to look to Jesus. He is our goal, our prize, our finish line. Those who know Him as Savior will one day get to their finish line when they meet Him in Heaven, and He says, "Well done, good and faithful servant."

Jesus became our finish line because He kept His eyes on His finish line, us.

The Bible says Jesus endured the cross "for the joy that was set before Him."

What was the joy set before Christ that motivated Him to endure the cross? Was it the glory and riches He would enjoy in Heaven as He would sit on the right hand of God? No. He had that before He was ever born.

Jesus prayed to God in John 17:24 saying "You loved me before the world ever was."

Before God created the world, Jesus was at His right hand, enjoying the riches and glory of Heaven. He did not have to come to Earth to die on the cross in order to obtain that. (By the way, John 1:1 also teaches that fact. "In the beginning was the Word.")

So, what was the joy set before Christ that would motivate Him to die on the cross? That joy was you... and me.

So when Jesus decided to come to earth (the Author of our faith) and die for our sins on the cross (the Finisher of our faith), He accomplished His mission by keeping His eye on the prize, us.

His life on earth was not easy, His sufferings were far more than any sufferings we can imagine. Isaiah 53 describes Him as a man of sorrows, despised and rejected of men, acquainted with grief, and we esteemed Him not. Still, He kept His eyes on the prize, and He finished His race victorious.

We are still in the prime of our races. Is your eye on the prize? Are you focusing on the Finish Line. Have you identified the correct Finish Line?

Run your race, lay aside the weight and sin, and run with patience, looking to Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith. chreporter@mediactr.com