Some years ago, I surprised myself by joining the college cross-country team. I rarely competed, and when I did my average mile pace barely topped seven minutes per mile. I was not exactly top college league material. Far from it. But I enjoyed running and when someone invited me to the team, I decided to give it a shot.
One day while my running partner was doing his laps around a huge grassy park, I glanced over the tally sheet of the runners. I noticed the assistant coach drawing a thick black line with a marker between each of the first two or four 1.5 mile laps ran.
Curious, I asked, "What's that thick black line for?"
He tapped to the left of the line for each lap entry with the point of the marker. "See these first four laps?" he asked. I nodded. "Mike was running really bad, maybe a warmup. Even stopped and walked and he's a 4 minute miler." I looked at the lap times he'd recorded and nodded again.
"So, when that happens, we draw a thick black line between laps to mark a new beginning.We don't look at or want the bad or slow early laps to mess up the rest of the running workouts."
Since that time, the image of the thick black lines on the tally sheet has stayed with me all the way to nearly qualifying for the U.S. Olympic Trials and and Boston Marathons.
There have been many days and nights when I needed it as a gentle reminder that I too can draw a line across my life and start fresh and new, not because of my sheer will power, but because of what Christ has earned for me and you.
You and I have moments in our lives that come back to haunt us inconveniently. Indelible stains of sin that leave a sticky residue of quiet shame or anger, even though we've intended or asked God for forgiveness and a fresh start. Moments like betrayal and lies from other trusted people, even though we may trick ourselves and we've said we forgive them.
It's convenient too, to rehash the difficult past and to let painful memories linger like a laundry stain that simply won't wash away. But when we do, we somehow lock ourselves in the past, get stuck going forward and becoming better in our chosen faith.
Ours is a God who will show us an empty tomb this Easter Sunday 2020 during a horrific worldwide pandemic and says, "Behold I make all things new." We can overlay His promissory note as a thick black line across moments of our lives, knowing very well that no matter what we may think, feel, or efforting, we are gifted with a new fresh start each time we ask God for a new line on the tally sheet of our lives.
With our past, present, and future life secured in God's hands, we have a simple mission to look ahead, to run, and press on to God's heavenly prize that awaits us through Christ Jesus.
(c) 2020 Worldwide by Myles Saulibio
