John made a point when he wrote about eternal life, and we follow him.

My son had the privilege of participating in the Ironman World Championships in Kona, Hawaii. It was a great honour to represent his country in his age group. He trained hard. Two sessions a day for almost a year. His coach said he didn’t believe in taking days off.

He was in good shape. He was well prepared and came out of the water with the first group of professional athletes. After the first 90 km on the bike, he knew that this time he would cut a full hour off his previous attempts.

But just as they turned around and started the descent, he lost his front derailleur. He had to struggle to get to the transition point for the run. Every time the van came to pick up exhausted participants, the temptation was great to just give up.

But he stuck it out, held on, and kept going. Even though the disappointment with the bike mechanics and his nutrition being messed up almost got him down, he just kept going. He thought, “I’ve put in too much to just let it all disappear.”

And then, finally – even though it was later than he had planned – he arrived at the finish line, arms in the air. It was precisely that end goal of getting to the finish line that pulled and pushed him not to throw in the towel.

Jesus also had the end goal in mind. He knew His suffering and death would give many people the chance to walk through the gates of heaven. The knowledge that He would be next to His Father again gave Him the courage to keep going, even in the most difficult circumstances.

Our neighbours’ children recently travelled to Africa to climb Kilimanjaro. It’s a huge mountain to climb. At that altitude, the air is so thin you must pause and take several breaths just to gather enough oxygen for a single step forward.

Sometimes it’s just the end goal that keeps us going. When all is dark around us, it’s that small light in the tunnel that gets us through.

That small light is the place we’re heading to. As John said: ¹³This is how we know we’re living steadily and deeply in him, and he in us: He’s given us life from his life, from his very own Spirit.

Just as the Holy Spirit motivates us to keep believing, eternal life is a light in the tunnel for us. It pulls us forward. We know where we are headed, and that focus helps us to push through the circumstances we find ourselves in now.

As God’s children, we have so many privileges. We do not have to struggle through life alone. The Holy Spirit is our Helper. We have a vision of the future that pulls and pushes us. We can confront whatever is on our plate and push through it, because we are confident, as scripture reminds us: the best is truly yet to come.

Scripture
1 John 4:7-21

Reflection
What are you facing right now?
What are you focusing on?
How can heaven already help you right now?

Prayer
Father, thank You for reminding me today of the eternal life that awaits me. Let Your Spirit pull and push me so that I don’t give up but persevere until I reach Your ultimate goal. Amen.