Chaplain’s Thoughts

The bike show in the Kings Hall always marks the start of the biking season in Northern Ireland. From then on it’s the build up to the NW200 in May, the Isle of Man TT in June and culminating in the Ulster Grand Prix in August, with plenty of races in between.

I read an article in the newspaper last week which mentioned that the riders are currently undergoing practice as they look to tweak the bike setup to iron out anything that could hinder their chances of winning on the track.
As I read the article, the scripture in Hebrews chapter 12 verses 1 and 2 came to mind where we are exhorted, ‘let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. 2Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith.’

Race bikes are set up in such a way that weight is kept to a minimum to ensure that the bike is as aerodynamic and as light as possible. This leads to a faster top speed and an increase in torque. Could we imagine Ryan Farquhar racing with a heavy bag of bricks on his back? I think its safe to say that it would slow him down.

This is the imagery that the author of Hebrews is trying to portray. We must cast off any weight that could hinder us as we run the race of this life and look past this world into eternity to Jesus as the Author and Finisher of our faith.
Unlike road races, the race of life that we run has many winners who will all receive a prize. That prize is eternal life with Jesus Christ, all we have to do is accept the salvation he offers and admit that we cannot run this race on our own!

Seamus Bradley - February 2010.