Thursday, August 6th

Thursday, August 6

Psalm 119:30-32

I have chosen the way of faithfulness;
 I set your rules before me.
I cling to your testimonies, O Lord;
 let me not be put to shame!
I will run in the way of your commandments
 when you enlarge my heart!

When my brother Joe turned 50 he got the idea that he would compete in an “Ironman Triathlon” alongside his 29 year old son, Jeremy.

Now my brother had been a fine athlete in his youth and had even competed in bicycling races in adulthood, but he had never done a triathlon. Jeremy, on the other hand, had already done a couple of these crazy races and knew what it took to swim 2 miles, bike 112 miles and then run a 26 mile marathon consecutively.

My brother thought it would be a great thing to train with his son and then to accomplish something together. So they trained diligently for 6 or 8 months.

Finally the weekend of the race came. The night before the race the organizers of the event held a banquet at which they honored the people who had competed in the most triathlons as well as the oldest competitor. My brother remembered that the oldest racer was a 75 year old man who had been doing triathlons for like 25 years.

The day of the race came and it was hot; like 95 degrees hot; like “you do not want to do a triathlon today” hot. But the race went on.

My brother said the swim and the biking were hard, but he stayed with his son and they survived. When the running part of the race began they parted ways because he has arthritic knees and has to kind of shuffle/walk instead of run and his son could run much faster. So he was on his own in the heat and with his bad knees.

Hour after hour droned on. But he was determined to finish the race even if he had to crawl on his hands and knees.

Finally, some 13 hours after he began he could see the finish line. Right at that same time he heard someone coming up from behind to pass him. When the runner passed he saw it was that 75 year old man that had been honored the night before. All my brother’s competitive instincts kicked in and he got a powerful surge of adrenalin. He said he almost said out loud, “Not today buddy; not in your dreams are you going to beat me to that finish line!” He found the strength to do his best impression of a sprint and he beat the older man to the tape and they both laughed together in weary celebration at the finish line.

I think there is a kind of parable of faith in that story. read again the words of the Psalm:

I have chosen the way of faithfulness;
 I set your rules before me.
I cling to your testimonies, O Lord;
 let me not be put to shame!
I will run in the way of your commandments
 when you enlarge my heart!

The Psalm writer has discovered that the strength to run the “way of faithfulness” is found in the testimonies and commandments of the Lord; in the truth and power of God’s word. He is saying that the word of God both sets our course and enlarges our hearts to run that course.

So whether we are like the 75 year old competing in his 25th triathlon, or the 50 year old with arthritic knees trying to finish his first, we find our direction and our strength in the same place; the truth of God’s word.


Pastor Brian Coffey