Don't Throw the Race!

What does it mean to throw the race? It means to lose when you could win. You say, "Why would I do that?"

Well, the sad thing is that Christian's do it all the time. Not intentionally, as would be done in wrestling or racing, nevertheless, we have the capability to win, but we are actually "Throwing the Race!"

Duane and I watched the movie "Seabiscuit" this last weekend. It is a movie loosely based on a true story about a Throughbred racehorse, Seabiscuit, who is smaller than normal race horses and overlooked. His unexpected success has made him a hugely popular sensation in the United States during the Great Depression.

He became the top money winning racehorse up to the 1940s. He beat the 1937 Triple Crown winner, War Admiral, by four lengths in a two-horse special at Pimlico and was voted American Horse of the year for 1938. 

This movie spoke volumes of truth to me.

The first thing that is prevalent in my mind after watching this movie is how the enemy attempts to keep us under..."Throwing the Race", so to speak. First, I will address this issue....

"Throwing the Race"

The enemy is always trying to deceive us into "Throwing the Race". He works hard at trying to keep us from becoming all that God has created us to be and from doing all that He has planned for us to do.

He deceives us by trying to get us to believe that we are still sinners and that it is expected that our norm is still to continue to sin. 1 John 3:9; 1 John 5:18; 1 Timothy 5:20; 1 John 3:8; 1 John 1:9. He wants us to recycle defeat in our lives and keep us from believing that we really are a New Creation in Christ. He doesn't want us to embrace the reality that old things have really passed away and new has come and our old man is dead. 2 Corinthians 5:14 - 17.

The truth is that: We are no longer sinners. Ephesians 1:4. "Sinner" is not our identity. Continuing to sin is not our nature any longer. We have been made the Righteousness of God in Christ.     
2 Corinthians 5:21; 1 Peter 2:24.
A Sinner is no longer who we are! We have been made Righteous through Christ!!!! Read Romans chapter 6.

"Throwing the Race" is no longer our mode of operation. Now we are More than Conquerors. Romans 8:37. Now we have the overwhelming victory through Christ.
1 Corinthians 15:57; 2 Corinthians 2:14.

We must see ourselves through the eyes of God, not through the deceiving lenses of the enemy whose goal is to hold us down from being all we are called to be in attempt to defeat us. Colossians 2:15; Colossians 1:13-14.

The message that rang in my mind on my way to bed after watching the movie, Seabiscuit, was "Who's your Trainer?" This is the final issue that I will speak to now.

"Who's Your Trainer"

What loving trainer would teach his or her trainee to fail?

A loving trainer would see the gifts, the potential and the value of his student. He would do all he could do to train him, encourage him and support him in the goal to succeed. 

It would be a faulty, selfish, unloving trainer who would expect and set up his trainee to continue to lose or "Throw the Race" - recycling that failure week after week. 

A genuine trainer who is sincere in his desires, motivations and goals would believe in the ability of the one he trains and do all he could do to teach him to overcome the obstacles that hold him back. He would love him as his own. He would train him to Win!!!!

The goal of the trainer would be to help his trainee to be all he can be, to go beyond where he has ever thought he could go.... To  succeed, to excel, to win.....not barely or just by a nose, but rather by lengths (in horse racing language).

We must believe what God tells us about ourselves. We must become convinced that we are the head and not the tail and above and not beneath. Seriously, we ARE redeemed from the curse of the law. Galatians 3:13. Let the Redeemed of the Lord say so. Psalm 107:2. I must come eye to eye with my opponent (so to speak) and gain the determined decision that he is not taking my victory from me any longer. I am designed to win! Let that one who tries to defeat me eat my dust. (You have to watch the movie to understand that one!).

God is our Excellent, Loving Trainer. He sees our gifts. He knows our potential for He is the One who formed us and He is the One who created us for a purpose.  He knows if we will get to really know the Truth. That knowledge of the Truth we make us free from all that holds us back. Ephesians 2:10; Philippians 2:12-17; Jeremiah 29:11; Ephesians 3:20; Psalm 139:13-18;
1 John 5:3-5; John 8:31-32.

I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, and I have remained faithful. 

2 Timothy 4:7

But thanks be to God, the One always leading us in triumph in Christ, and through us in every place making manifest the fragrance of the knowledge of Him.

2 Corinthians 2:14