Winning the Race

The stadium was nearly empty. More than an hour earlier, the winner of the marathon in the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico City had crossed the finish line. As the last spectators prepared to leave, John Stephen Akhwari of Tanzania hobbled into the stadium. His leg was bandaged and bloody. A fall during the race had deeply cut and dislocated his knee. Through obvious pain, he pressed on to become the last of 57 competitors to finish the race, a race that had begun with 74. When asked by a reporter why he hadn't give up, Akhwari paused as if mystified by the question. "My country did not send me 5,000 miles to Mexico City to start the race. They sent me 5,000 miles to finish the race."
It is wonderful, and the angels sing in heaven, when any person believes on Jesus Christ, and they begin their spiritual journey. But the greatest triumph is to those who not only begin well, but end well. That doesn't mean there may not be some falls along the way that leave us "bruised and bleeding," but Jesus didn't die on the cross for us just to begin well. He died there, so that we might end well, and thereby dwell with him in eternity.