Think Again!

54 • Think Again: Transformation That Yields a Return on God’s Investment

distance runner and Oregon State roommate of the legendary Dick Fosbury (inventor of the Fosbury Flop). As a boy I attended many of his track meets, meeting the outstanding athletes of the era. From elementary school through my college years at Fresno State, I competed as a high jumper and decathlete. And then into the next generation, both of our sons competed as high school pole vaulters. As a result, I have watched hundreds of races over the years. The story is told about a young runner and his exuberant mother. As the boy turned the corner down the back stretch, he was close to the leader but fading. Struggling with all his strength, he saw a runner pass him, then another, then another. The mother yelled out to her son, “Run faster! Run faster!” (as though the child had not considered exerting more effort). Finally, hearing his mother yelling to run faster for what seemed like the twentieth time, he came to a complete stop, turned to the stands, and shouted back at his mother, “Can’t you see I’m running as fast as I can?” He coasted a few strides farther and then dropped out of the race altogether. The accuser shouts at us like this mother, “Try harder, try harder!” Like the young runner, we try as hard as we can to do the right thing, hearing the same kind of discouraging instruction: just trust God more, just read your Bible more, just pray more. This advice is more often demoralizing than helpful. The enemy knows we are likely to give up when the admonishment is, “Try harder not to sin.”

When you hear the words, “just try harder,” be aware that it may be a scheme to have you to lose heart.

Scheme #10: It’s Not That Bad When we sin, we often attempt to justify our behavior. We slander someone, but say, “At least I didn’t start the rumor.”