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Ready...set....go!


 Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed. As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.” (I Peter 1:13-16)

"Ready." Prepare your minds for action. Focus your attention on the finish line. "Set." Put yourself in position. Be self-controlled. "Go." Set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed. Here's some of that hope I was talking about earlier. When we race, we don't race with the idea in mind that winning is up to us. It's a race we can't win by ourselves. But when we run out of stamina, when we trip and fall and can't get up again, Jesus takes the baton and finishes the race while the Holy Spirit picks us up, dusts us off, puts bandages where they're needed, and sets broken limbs (and hearts).  We are given grace.
          We are given grace...if we run in the race. If we actually run the race. We have to be registered. We need an official race number and baton. Picking up any old stick and making our own race number (#1, of course!) won't due. Even telling everyone we're in the race isn't enough. We are not in the race if we lounge on the sidelines either. We have to be in the race and doing what we can. We might only be able to crawl, or hobble or limp. That's OK as long as we are doing what we can. 
             The finish line? It's called "holiness." It's called "perfection." That's not a popular finish line because it takes grace to get there. It's easier (we think) to run when we're running on our own. The reality is that we want to hog the glory. "I did it mmmyyyyyyyyyy way." Sometimes, we'd rather lose than accept help. The problem is, it's designed as a relay race. You not only can't win on your own, you're not supposed to.

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