Sidelined by a Nudge

Our primary goal in the Christian life is to glorify God by fulfilling His purpose for our lives.

As a hundred thousand fans watched, Richard Petty ended his 45 race losing streak and picked up stockcar racing's biggest purse—$73,500. It all happened at the Daytona 500. Petty's win, however, was a complete surprise. Going into the last lap, he was running 30 seconds behind the two leaders. All at once the car in second place tried to pass the number one man on the final stretch by nudging him. This caused the first car to drift inside and force the challenger onto the infield grass, and slightly out of control.

What happened next was incredible. The offended driver pulled his car back onto the track, caught up with the leader, and forced him into the outside wall. Both vehicles came to a screeching halt. The two drivers jumped out and quickly got into an old-fashioned slugging match. In the meantime, third-place Petty cruised by for the win.

While Richard Petty was not supposed to win, the trivial dispute between the number one and two men gave him the opportunity to move into first place. What started out as a gentle nudge to “get by” ended in a crash and a fight.

How often are we sidelined by a petty dispute? Do we allow little disagreements or differences to hinder our work for the Lord? So often Christians can take a small problem and let it grow to be a major crisis. God desires that we put aside differences and run the race He has set before us.

Notice Hebrews 12:2, “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 down at the right hand of the throne of God.” God says we are to be looking unto Christ as our focus in our Christian race.

Imagine if the two racecar drivers ahead of Richard Petty had been focused on the finish line rather than each other. What would have happened had they raced as fast as they could without looking to nudge or bump each other? They would have gotten the top two spots and finished with a great race. But when they took their eyes off the finish line, the end goal, they lost the race.

Even so, in the Christian life when you take your eyes off the finish line, Jesus Christ, you can be easily distracted by the trivial things in life. All that really matters is running our race for Christ and obeying His commands. The Bible says to lay aside anything else that would hinder us from doing just that.

Have you been involved in petty things that distract you from Christ? Has your race been hindered because of “pit stops”? Remember that our main goal in the Christian life is to glorify God by fulfilling His purpose for our lives. Refocus your eyes on the Lord today and recommit to running your race for Him.

Source: Dailyintheword.org, January 3, 2009