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OUR DAILY BREAD             Monday, Aug. 7, 1995    
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READ:  Hebrews 12:1-6    
 
 
                 WINNING THE RACE  
 
      "Let us run with endurance the race  
              that is set before us." 
 
                           -- Hebrews 12:1   
 
On May 6, 1954, Roger Bannister became the first 
man in history to run a mile in less than 4 minutes. 
Within 2 months, John Landy eclipsed the record by 
1.4 seconds.  On August 7, 1954, the two met together 
for a historic race.  As they moved into the last lap, 
Landy held the lead.  It looked as if he would win, 
but as he neared the finish he was haunted by the  
question, "Where is Bannister?"  As he turned to 
look, Bannister took the lead.  Landy later told a 
Time magazine reporter, "If I hadn't looked back, I 
would have won!" 
 
One of the most descriptive pictures of the Christian 
life in the Bible is of an athlete competing in a race. 
First Corinthians 9:24-27 tells us that discipline  
is the key to winning.  In Hebrews 12:1-2, we are   
encouraged to lay aside anything that might hinder our 
spiritual advancement and to stay focused on Christ. 
And in Philippians 3:12-13, the apostle Paul said,  
"I press on...forgetting those things which are behind  
and reaching forward to those things which are ahead." 
 
Lord, give us endurance as we run this race of life. 
Help us not to wallow in past failures, but to be 
disciplined and to shun sinful ways.  May we fix our 
eyes on the eternal goal set before us and keep looking 
unto Jesus. 
                                -- Henry G. Bosch 
 
   Run the straight race through God's good grace, 
        Lift up thine eyes and seek His face; 
          Life with its way before us lies, 
        Christ is the path and Christ the prize. 
 
                                -- Monsell 
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          THOUGHT FOR THE DAY  
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  You can't make spiritual progress  
           by looking back. 
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THE BIBLE IN ONE YEAR:   Isaiah 34-36

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