(If you’re just joining us, here’s Part 1.)

Moving on with my stream of consciousness…

…let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily hinders our progress.

If we want to run a good race, there are two things we’ve gotta get rid of: sin (makes sense) but ALSO, anything that is not sin but slows us down just the same (not so easy to figure out). Or, to put it another way, we cannot run our best race if we are not consistently and consciously removing sin and anything else that gets in our way.

All racers, whether a 100m sprinter or a musher in the Iditarod are focused on one thing: the finish line. They know where they’re going and they plan how to get there. They choose all of their training, clothing, food, etc. based on whether or not it will help them run a better race. Note that training, clothing and food are not bad in and of themselves, but if something is not going to get them to the finish line quicker or better, they get rid of it or don’t do it in the first place.

So, what’s my point?

I think sometimes we wander through life, wondering if we’re on the right track and clueless about what to do next. We become a victim of our circumstances, thus rendering ourselves ineffective. We make choices that seem “good,” but then wonder why they fall flat. We’re frustrated, aimless, confused and sometimes hopeless. We do things we end up regretting and we don’t do things we wish we had done…and then it’s too late.

And why do these things happen? Because we’re not really sure where we’re going. We don’t know what the goal is.

As a Christian, Christ is my finish line. That is true. And it sounds great, but frankly, it’s a bit vague. I like practical. I like applicable. I like to know how something looks in real life. For me.

How, you ask, does one figure out their purpose?

Well, if I knew that…