I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, and I have kept the faith. 8 Now there is in store for me the crown of righ­teousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing. 2 Timothy 4: 7, 8

A huge cloud of witnesses is all around us. So let us throw off everything that stands in our way. Let us throw off any sin that holds on to us so tightly. Let us keep on running the race marked out for us. 2 Let us keep looking to Jesus. He is the author of faith. He also makes it perfect. He paid no attention to the shame of the cross. He suffered there because of the joy he was looking forward to. Then he sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. He­brews 12:1, 2

At every race, any one getting to the finish line first is declared the winner, and the contestants put all their efforts to get ahead of the others to win. It doesn’t matter whether it is preliminary or final; there is a concerted effort to win. In the just concluded federal elections, the Conservatives un­der Prime Minister Steven Harper gained a majority government that eluded them the last two by hav­ing their candidates win in most of the ridings in the whole coun­try. They lost some seats but the loses were not very significant. We know that Jack Layton of the NDP is the new Opposition leader, that the Liberals and Bloc Quebecois lost badly and a lone Green Party got in at the expense of one Cabinet Minister. Having a majority government means that the Tories could bring in the legis­lations they want without trying to get one party to support it.

Both Manny Pacquiao and Shane Mosley went the full 12 rounds but Manny performed better and won a unanimous de­cision over Shane. The Canucks can’t seem to put their opponents away so the Predators lived to fight another day, but the Ca­nucks finally closed the door in very close, nail-biting Game 6 to get to the Western Final. Go! Ca­nucks Go!

The Christian life is “a battle and a march” as someone put it. The Christian in this world is under siege by the enemy of souls, that is Satan, and he has thousands of varieties of tempta­tions to catch the Christian and cause him or her to sin. St Paul said in his letter to Timothy, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, and I have kept the faith. 8 Now there is in store for me the crown of righteous­ness, which the Lord, the righ­teous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing. “ 2 Timothy 4: 7, 8. St. Paul was talking about the race for life and eternity. At that time, he was facing execu­tion for his faith in Jesus. Being a Roman citizen, he could not be hanged or crucified, but he could be beheaded. That is all right, he told his spiritual son Timothy. I have done what I could and even though I lose my life now, I shall be resurrected and given a crown of life. In Hebrews 12: 1,2 Paul tell us that we are surrounded by a crowd of witnesses watching us run the race of life and that we better endure it all the time looking to Jesus as our example who endured the cross and has finally sat down at the right hand of His Father. We also have to be very vigilant in our race because Satan can put many obstacles in our course in order to make us stumble and fall so we could not finish the race. He not only puts obstacles in our , he gives us lots of disinformation to confuse us, and finally he will try to destroy us if the Lord lets him. This is why we should also be armed and has protection from those deadly missiles that Satan has let lose against us. We are not dealing with human enemies but against supernatural enemies that once fought against Jesus during that war in heaven. (Revelation 12)

What is our protection and ar­mor? We find that in Ephesians 6: 10-17 10 “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his great pow­er.11 Put on the full armor of God so that you can fight against the devil’s evil tricks. 12 Our fight is not against people on earth but against the rulers and authorities and the powers of this world’s darkness, against the spiritual powers of evil in the heavenly world. 13 That is why you need to put on God’s full armor. Then on the day of evil you will be able to stand strong. And when you have finished the whole fight, you will still be standing.14 So stand strong, with the belt of truth tied around your waist and the protection of right living on your chest.15 On your feet wear the Good News of peace to help you stand strong.16 And also use the shield of faith with which you can stop all the burning arrows of the Evil One.17 Accept God’s salvation as your helmet, and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 18 Pray in the Spirit at all times with all kinds of prayers, asking for everything you need. To do this you must always be ready and never give up. Always pray for all God’s people.” J e s u s said that without Him we could not do anything. He is the only one who can save to the uttermost. He said in Like 21: 34-36 34 “But take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with ca­rousing, drunkenness, and cares of this life, and that Day come on you unexpectedly. 35 For it will come as a snare on all those who dwell on the face of the whole earth. 36 Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy[c] to escape all these things that will come to pass and to stand before the Son of Man.” So in order to get across the finish line, we have to be free from things that will burden us as we run the race such as “ca­rousing, drunkenness, cares of this life”. We have to watch and pray so that we will not enter into temptations because our spirit may be willing but our flesh is weak. That’s what happened to the disciples, Peter, James, and John who did not watch and pray with Jesus in Getsemane. Instead of praying, they slept. What happened? Peter denied his Lord three times and James and John ran away. They were not wearing their spiritual armor so they did not have the protec­tion against temptation the evil one.

Satan will tempt every one with fierce temptations like Job and Jesus, but Jesus has given us the assurance that we will not be tempted more than we are able to stand. He will always be with us in this troubled world. He said, “Peace I live with you. My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be trouble, neither let it be afraid.” John 14: 27 Are you afraid? Keep looking to Jesus, He will give you peace and He will carry you through. Shalom