Boston, Bombs and You

On April 15, twin explosions in Boston rocked the United States as a whole. Yet an even greater threat is in the works—one that directly concerns you.

You are running a race. It’s not a short race—not by far. You are running the marathon. It’s been a long 26.2 miles, but you’ve made it. The finish line is right ahead of you. You smile as you come closer to that line—knowing that you will finish the race. …

Then two explosions come, and now, where the finish line was, there’s rubble, smoke and the victims of the blasts. The runner in front of you is on the ground with blood all over his leg where he was hit by a piece of debris.

This is not how it was supposed to end! This was not the finish that you imagined!

An attack on Boston

Such was the state of affairs on April 15, 2013, when two bombs were planted near the finish line at the Boston Marathon in what appears to be the latest terrorist attack on the United States. The explosions left three dead and over 170 others wounded. Two suspects were identified and pursued by the FBI, ending with the death of one and the capture of the other.

The tragedy of the event is beyond description. The senseless deaths and violence is beyond my comprehension. Yet there is something that we can learn from this tragedy—something that we can learn and apply in our lives as Christians, no matter which country we call home.

Another race, another place

We are running a race as Christians. Like those marathon runners in Boston, it’s not a short race either. We run a long-distance race—one that requires endurance and consistency.

“Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us” (Hebrews 12:1).

Also like many of those who participated in the Boston Marathon, we don’t simply run this race for pleasure. Our race is very serious and requires the best effort from each of us.

In 1 Corinthians 9:24-27 Paul tells us that we race for a prize—there is a goal that we race for. It is the same goal that Paul talked about when he said, “I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing” (2 Timothy 4:7-8).

Our goal in the race is the same as what Christ told us when He said, “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you” (Matthew 6:33). We run in order to enter the Kingdom of God! The entrance to God’s everlasting Kingdom is our finish line.

A terrorist on the loose

A terrorist is on the loose, however, and his primary target is the race we run. The terrorist we fight has no nationality. He is the leader of those Paul referred to when he said: “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 6:12).

The terrorist we fight is the ruler of this world (2 Corinthians 4:4), and he fights to suppress our freedom. The terrorist’s name is Satan the devil.

The apostle Peter warns us, “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour” (1 Peter 5:8).

This is the enemy we fight as we run the Christian race. So what is it that we should be vigilant about?

There’s a bomb…

Satan has many different devices and traps. One of his devices isn’t much different from the bombs used on Boylston Street in Boston. These bombs can show up anytime, yet we should be especially concerned about them appearing near the finish line.

In Numbers 20, we read the account of Moses disobeying God by striking the rock and failing to give God the glory for giving the Israelites water. He committed this sin after years of service to God and of leading the stubborn Israelites. They were very near the Promised Land—but Moses sinned and was kept from entering the Promised Land (Numbers 20:12), though the New Testament makes clear he will be in God’s Kingdom (Hebrews 11:24-29, 39-40).

In 1 Corinthians 10, Paul reveals the experience of ancient Israel to be a type of our experience as Christians, which makes the Promised Land a type of the Kingdom of God. We must not let sin near the finish line keep us from entering the Kingdom of God. That is how serious it is—and that is what Satan would like.

At the finish

Like the terrorists in Boston, Satan will also be caught. He will be imprisoned so that he can’t use his weapons (Revelation 20:1-3). Human nature will still be a danger, but without Satan there to aggravate it and with God there to help, all of mankind will have a clear opportunity to come to God (Micah 4:2).

In the end, we should be able to say with confidence that we have finished the race and kept the faith and hear Christ say, “Well done, good and faithful servant,” as He hands us our crown of righteousness!

Joshua Travers is a freshman in college and attends the Athens, Ohio, congregation of the Church of God, a Worldwide Association.