EVIDENCE

by Barbara Chadwick

Tomorrow I will play the piano at a memorial service for a woman who was a member of the church here. Her daughter came from out of state to settle her mother’s affairs.

As this daughter spoke I was reminded of my own mother’s death and after the funeral going through her things choosing some to keep and some to give away. Going through the clothes, the books, the drawers and boxes we found evidence of the faith she kept to the end. It was not just words or church attendance for her. It was a life lived in determination to honor Christ. There was her Bible beside her chair, devotional books on a shelf nearby, the hymnal on the organ, Christian DVD’s and the memories. Growing up I heard the words, “Thank you, Nancy” over and over:

“Thank you for the meal you brought after the funeral.”

“Thank you for the dress you made for my daughter’s first day at school.”

“Thank you for the time you took to listen to my heartache.”

“Thank you for filling in for me at the store last week when I was sick.”

“Thank you for keeping my daughter while I had to work.”

“Thank you for cleaning my house when I was not able to do it.”

“Thank you for the groceries. It kept us going.”

I never thought of living out my Christian life as a race but there are several scriptures that make that comparison:

1Corinthians 9:24, 25-27,  Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it… Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.

The writer of Hebrews says in chapter 12:1-2,  Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith

At the end of the Apostle Paul’s life he said,  I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. I Timothy 4:7

There is always evidence. We watched a Detective movie tonight and saw that as they found the evidence they were able to piece together what happened. Just so in a life.

In 2014 let us put evidence - in our homes, cars and our very lives – of running with endurance and determination through the days, weeks and months. Let us finish the race and keep the faith.