In my Bible reading, which I will get to shortly, I was reminded of a young man named John Stephen Akhwari. Ever hear of him? No worries if not. He was a marathon runner from Tanzania in the 1968 Mexico Olympics. He was expected to finish quite high up, however, around the 12 mile mark (not quite half way), Akhwari started cramping, and shortly after collided with other runners. He fell hard and injured his shoulder and dislocated his knee. He rested a bit, bandaged up his knee and got back in the race. But he fell far behind.
He was encouraged to stop a few times, but he chose not to, saying later that something in him drove him to keep going. Seventy-five runners had started the race, and before it was over 18 had dropped out. Mamo Wolde of Ethiopia crossed the finish line in first place at 2 hours 20 minutes and 26 seconds. About 3 minutes later the runner from Japan finished, and 14 seconds later Mike Ryan from New Zealand. After the last runners finished the race, the Medal Ceremony ensued. It was late into the evening and several hours had passed, but a few thousand people stuck around the stadium to chat. And then…
Word started coming in of a last lone runner, and a buzz started arising in the stadium. The people had waited several hours when John Stephen Akhwari entered the stadium—bandaged, bruised, and with a very unsteady gait. As the crowd rose and began to cheer, Akhwari started to jog. The crowd cheered louder and louder as if he were in first place, even though this was hours AFTER the awards hand already been handed out. He crossed the finish line with the worst time in Olympic history, but he became one of the most well-known marathon runners in Olympic history as well.
He was asked by the news reporters why he didn’t just give up. His response became a classic. “My country didn’t send me 5,000 miles to start a race. They sent me 5,000 miles to finish the race.” His story inspired many runners of the day, and there are a number of videos online you can watch. This is but one of them.
And his answer and attitude should be an inspiration to us all today.
I am in Ezekiel, and the verses that reminded me of this story come from chapter 18:21–24 where it says;
“But if a wicked person turns away from all his sins that he has committed and keeps all my statutes and does what is just and right, he shall surely live; he shall not die. None of the transgressions that he has committed shall be remembered against him; for the righteousness that he has done he shall live. Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked, declares the Lord God, and not rather that he should turn from his way and live? But when a righteous person turns away from his righteousness and does injustice and does the same abominations that the wicked person does, shall he live? None of the righteous deeds that he has done shall be remembered; for the treachery of which he is guilty and the sin he has committed, for them he shall die.”
I have almost always looked at this passage in terms of a race. It doesn’t matter so much on how you start, but how you finish. A person may start off wicked and doing all sorts of unrighteousness, but if he turns from his evil ways and follows after the Lord, he will be remembered by God for those things, and his evil and wicked ways will be forgotten by God. But if a righteous person decides this isn’t the life he wants and turns to do wicked and finishes in this manner, all of his righteous deeds will be forgotten and his wickedness will be what he is judged by.
Notice that it has nothing to do with weighing how much good verses how much bad, but it all has to do with how you finish the race. I also believe that this reveals the heart of a person even from the beginning. The wicked person who turns to righteousness has realized that he is wrong and in need of repentance. However, the one who is doing right at the beginning already has a heart that wants to do what he wants. He is merely going through the motions of running the race well, but decides it just isn’t worth the trouble.
It would be like a runner starting and doing well, then just stopping before he gets to the finish line and then never crosses the line at all. He would have been listed as a competitor at the start, but as a non-finisher and disqualified from the race. Akhwari started well and then stumbled, but never lost site of what he was there for. He had an inner drive to finish the race and to never give up.
In this world we will all have trouble, and we will all have to make decisions as to whether to go on or give up. And this will expose to yourself and others the condition of your heart and relationship with our Lord Jesus Christ, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross. The Lord has set before us the path we are to go and commands us to put off any extra weight and sin that would hinder us, and RUN this race with endurance. AND we have a great cloud of witnesses who have finished the race urging us on, and calling us to keep our eyes fixed on Jesus.
Never give up. Keep your eye on the prize who is Jesus Himself. And though you come in last, well behind everyone else, there will be great joy and celebration in Heaven when you enter and hear those words, “Well done good and faithful servant. Enter into the joy of My rest.”
Amen
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