on running the race

When the little kids start the race, there is joy on their faces. They're young and it's all fresh.
When the big kids start the race, faces are grim. They are ready to pour it all out. They know it's going to burn.

Not that they shy from the race because of that. I find with the high school age boys that I coach in lacrosse, they want to pour it out. The grim aspect is almost attractive. They burn to do something great - to take on some great endeavor. It's what draws people to run marathons and to test themselves in efforts like those offered by Outward Bound.

Now, imagine Jesus as He started his race. Imagine the joy He must have felt with His first miracle -- turning water to wine to honor His Father and on behalf of His mother at the wedding in Cana of Galilee. Imagine Him a little like those little kids in their first race. Exhilarated. Even smiling.

It wouldn't always be like that. In fact, we find Isaiah says of Jesus, He would be a man of sorrows. And anyone that has ever gone deep into their reserves, deep in a race has a little understanding of what Isaiah means. It's why, at the end of a race, a runner is often tempted to just sit down on the nearest curb and have a good cry rather than exult.

But for now, imagine Him at the outset - the pain at the end is out there looming, but it's still low on the horizon. For the moment, there is the exultation of sensing He's begun the run He was born to make. As Eric Liddell said in Chariots of Fire, "I feel His pleasure."

Video of Eric Liddell:
http://danziebarth.blogspot.com/2008/01/and-when-i-run-i-feel-his-pleasure.html