August 1-2

“....let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith” (Hebrews 12:1,2)

As we have continued our Christian race we have met with ups and downs, times of joy and despair in our lives – anything could happen, and has happened. Have we been quitters, or stayers? Do we still have the single-minded resolve in our hearts that, come what may, by the strength and grace of God, we will hold on to Jesus – refuse to be influenced or side-tracked by events around us? Our decision to run and continue running, is based on eternal principles that go far beyond the here-today-and-gone-tomorrow ethics of today's society. We have a bigger goal, a larger vision.

Cast your mind back to 1992, and I'm sure many of you will recall the name of Derek Redmond. The venue, the Olympic Games held in Barcelona, Spain. Derek was running for Great Britain in the 400 meter semi-final heats. Forced to retire with an Achilles tendon injury in the earlier 1988 Games in Seoul, Barcelona was his final chance to win a medal. Derek's father, Jim, was as always, with him, and on the day of the race they reminisced, talking over past successes and failures. They agreed that no matter what happened, Derek had to finish the race.

  

The race began and soon Derek took the lead – at 175 meters it looked a certainty the he would make selection for the finals....then it happened, there was a distinct 'pop' as Derek's right hamstring snapped. Leg quivering, in pain he fell to the ground. In the stands Jim, his father, was watching and raced down to try and get to his son's side - just as Derek with gritted teeth and determination on his face, got back on his feet and began hobbling down the track towards the finish line. On the final bend Jim caught up with his son, and did for him what Jesus will do for us. Putting his arm around Derek,, Jim promised “I'm here, son, we'll finish together.” Derek Redmond ran the slowest 400 meters in Olympic history, but he persevered, he didn't abandon the race....and his father didn’t abandon him.

What commitment, determination and dedication! As Christians, when we allow the Lord to take the reins and control the direction, our lives are not dictated or ruled by circumstances. Our focus goes beyond this life to the eternal life to come. With the Apostle Paul let us allow nothing to stop us gaining this higher glory, as our Saviour, with His arm around our shoulders says “We began this race together; we will finish it together.”.

(Richard A Daly (2012) “The Christian Race”)

Our song choice is appropriately, “You Raise Me Up – Selah

     Housekeeping details for you

     The point of this short blog will become clear if you decide to use this reading in the way we intend it. Netherfield Seventh-day Adventist Church believes in healthy churches. You can see what that means if you head to the relevant Healthy Churches page of the website. We also want other churches to be healthy. That means you can join in our campaign to create healthy churches, with healthy people serving the people in those churches.

     A healthy church is one where Jesus comes first. A healthy church is one where the people work together to put Jesus first. One thing we are doing is to join people together to spread that news. I would like you to look at our prayer partners page. This will explain how we want you to use this short devotional. Very basically we want you to find a like-minded Christian friend who you will join with to : choose to pray together every day, decide together on a way to serve other people together, to help them grow as Christians - and to invite the Holy Spirit into your life every day. This blog that you will receive every day simply gives a common spiritual purpose. If you are a newcomer and want to join the blog with this object in mind click here