Two weeks ago Judy and I were in Providence, Rhode Island, during the time of the Ironman competition. The participants were doing a half triathlon, which means they would run a half marathon, bicycle for a long ways and swim an insane distance (spoken by a non-swimmer). All told, they would cover 70.3 miles. Providence is hilly, so the course included many hills. We watched them as we made our way to church that Sunday morning, watched them as we walked to lunch, then watched many of them finish the race. What was amazing to me was the inordinate amount of support they got from the bystanders. Many of the watchers were family members cheering on their husband/father/wife/mother/brother/sister/grandmother (yes, we watched a 65 year old lady finish the race). But many of the watchers had no one in the race they knew. But still they cheered. The race ended on the lawn of the state house, another up-hill climb. An announcer called out the names and cities of residence of each runner as he/she finished. Everyone went wild as each athlete finished his or her race. What an amazing sight to behold.

Paul wrote to Timothy in 2 Tim. 4:7, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith….” Paul included in his letter some of the challenges he had faced and how many people had deserted him along the way. Many times he had to go it alone. It hit me as I read Paul’s testimony that our church should be like the Ironman crowd. We should be encouraging one another to finish the race strong and to keep the faith. I’m afraid too often we do just the opposite. If someone stumbles we ignore their plight and leave them alone. What we need to do is help them up and encourage them to keep on running the race. We should be cheering each other on, and especially as we get older and closer to the finish line of our lives. You’d think it would be easier as one gets older, but I’m discovering it’s not. It would be so easy to get cranky and expect the younger folks to cater to me.

Well, I finished the two letters to Timothy today and am glad. God worked me over through these letters and I’m ready to move to something else. The challenge is for me to apply what God has taught me. But then, that’s always the challenge for all of us. Let’s encourage one another to finish strong. I need the encouragement and have a suspicion you do too. Go baby, you can do it!