These days you wouldn’t believe it to look at me, but I once had a short-lived athletic career as a sprinter!
As a distance runner at intermediate school I was one of the dawdlers, always bringing up the rear, but when it came to sprints I seemed to have some talent.
So much so that in my last year at intermediate I was chosen for the prestigious final spot in our syndicate’s relay team. Even if our team was a little bit behind, our teacher was confident that I’d have that final burst of speed that might prove the crucial difference in coming across the line first. Well, that was the theory.
In reality, in the final, I fumbled the handover, dropped the baton, desperately snatched it off the ground, dropped it again … and so we came a pitiful last. I already felt dreadful, but that only got worse when the first runner in our team came up and gave me a horrendous tongue lashing just moments later.
There are times in life when we have the opportunity to be part of something significant, but if we ‘drop the baton’, the end result will fall short. Those of us who attend church in The Salvation Army are currently prayerfully preparing ourselves to give to our annual Self Denial Appeal.
This is an important opportunity to support the amazing work of the Army in very poor countries and where The Salvation Army is small and without the resources we perhaps take for granted—especially in New Zealand.
If you’d like to remind yourself of some of the work that this appeal supports, visit www.selfdenial.info and watch the videos. Be warned, many will bring tears to your eyes! Thank you to all who are preparing to give—those who understand that, with God on our side, we are part of a winning team, but one that still needs each of us to play our part to achieve God’s purposes.
Let’s not drop the baton!
Christina Tyson
Editor
Hebrews 12:11 New Living Translation
‘No discipline is enjoyable while it is happening—it’s painful! But afterward there will be a peaceful harvest of right living for those who are trained in this way.’
Ngā Hiperu 12:11
‘Ko ngā pakinga katoa, e kore e kīia ināianei hei whakahari, engari hei whakapōuri: muri iho ia ka puta mai te hua rangimārie o te tika, ki te hunga e whakamahia ana ki taua mea.’