Ep 23: A Complacent Race

Speaker1: Well. Good morning, I'm Daniel Delp, and this is for your Sunday morning drive. The short podcast designed to help put you in a Colossians three two mindset and help prepare your mind for worship on those hectic Sunday mornings. I hope you're having a fantastic day today for your Sunday morning drive is brought to you by the Ministry League Network of podcasts. I do encourage you to check out the great work happening with Ministry League by listening to the other podcasts on their network through their website, Ministry League, com and their app, and to see all the other great free resources that are available there. I hope you enjoyed today's episode. This is episode 23, A complacent race. Let's go to church.

Speaker2: Are we there yet?

Speaker1: At the time of this recording, the Olympics have just recently ended, and it probably won't surprise you that I didn't really follow them too closely. I'm not super invested in sports. However, another story came across my newsfeed recently that prompted some interesting thoughts that I'd like to share, and I'll be sure to link to this story in the show notes for today's episode. The story goes something like this Spanish racewalker. I guess that's a thing. Laura Garcia Caro had just headed into the last 400m of the track during a race at the 2024 European Athletics Championships in Rome, and she was convinced that she was going to win. And because she had such a good lead, others were convinced she was about to win the race as well. So much so that they handed her a Spanish flag for the celebration. Once she reached the finish line and she began to celebrate, to smile, to punch the air, and ever so slightly, she slowed her pace. I mean, she was about to win after all. Why not? However, in the last two meters of the race, she was overtaken by Ukrainian competitor Lyudmila Ulanovskaya. And my apologies from the pronunciation and Laura's face and her heart sank at the realization of her blunder. She stopped truly running the race and because of that she missed out on a bronze medal, coming in fourth place. How crushing. And there's a spiritual application here, for sure. Do we ever stop running the race before it's finished? In second Timothy chapter four, verses six through eight, Paul says, for I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come.

Speaker1: I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, and I have kept the faith in the future. There is laid up for me the crown of righteousness which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me, but to all those who have loved his. Appearing. In Hebrews chapter 12, verses one and two, the author says, therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. And in first Corinthians chapter nine, verse 24, Paul again says to the brethren at Corinth, do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win. It's my fear that unlike Paul, who was clearly indicating to Timothy that his death was shortly at hand, we celebrate early. And by that I mean that we become complacent in our service when there is still plenty of track ahead of us. The excuses for this vary. You know, sometimes we say, oh, I'm too old. You know, I've put in my years of service already and now it's my time to rest. Why don't we let the younger generation step up? Or maybe from the opposite perspective, we say, well, I'm too young.

Speaker1: This is something that a more mature Christian needs to handle. Or maybe we take the route where we say, I've already got so much on my plate right now. Maybe it's work, maybe it's kids, maybe it's whatever we want to substitute there. But maybe we say, well, maybe this just isn't the right season for me to serve. And my friends, believe me, I understand how busy life can be. And I'm not perfect in any of these areas. But it's my fear that sometimes we buy into the lie that Satan tries to tell us that we are past our prime or we haven't any steam left in our tanks, or that there just isn't a place for us to serve. It's my encouragement to you today that you find a way to serve, that you don't lose momentum, that you keep on running that race that's set before you. Don't let discouragement or complacency keep you from finishing the course and keeping the faith. After all, the church needs you, and the Lord has called us all to service. Revelation 210 but the last part of that verse says, be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life. Keep on running. Don't celebrate early. Don't become complacent. Let's keep going. Well, those are my thoughts for your Sunday morning drive. Now it's time to hear yours. Our discussion questions for this week are. Have we become complacent? Why do we sometimes stop serving the Lord altogether? And what can you do today to fill a need and be of service?