Articles
Getting There
Posted by Jamison Jones
“I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift…”
-Ecclesiastes 9:11
Remember the tortoise and the hare in Aesop’s Fables? The hare boasted that he was the swiftest animal in the forest. When he challenged the others to a race, only the tortoise dared to try. To the hare, it seemed like an unfair contest, since he would win easily. But off they started, with the tortoise soon trailing far behind.
On the way, the hare decided there was time for a nap, but the tortoise kept plodding along. When the hare awoke, he couldn’t see the tortoise anywhere, so he laughed and said, “He still hasn’t caught up with me!” But as he ran toward the finish line, he saw the tortoise crossing it. Slowly and steadily, the tortoise had won!
Like that foolish hare, some people live hectic lives, with no direction or real commitment. Lives full of stops and starts. They often complain that they’re getting nowhere fast. The better testimony in our lives would obviously be “I’m getting somewhere steadily.” This is more realistic, since true learning, growing, and overcoming are gradual experiences.
A philosopher once said that the essential thing in heaven and on earth should be “long obedience in the same direction.” Like the apostle Paul, make it your lifelong aim to press on toward your goal in Christ (Phil. 3:14). You’ll be the one to win the prize.