It's GO TIME!

6/24/2025

Is a full-out KICK, a relentless sprint unleashed, at the end of a 10K distance race, or a Mile, or a Triathlon... Is that all-out acceleration at the end of a Race:

1. Because that’s what I do, my style, my trademark, no matter if it affects the outcome of the race
2. Because I have a chance to win, so until I don’t have a chance to win or pass the next guy, or keep a guy from passing, I’m going to give it a try by sprinting at the end of the race
3. Because I hate losing
4. Because I love winning
5. Because I need to do my best
6. Because I need to look good in front of the crowd in the bleachers at the finish line
7. Because I’m better than my opponents, so I need to pass them to prove it
8. Or NONE OF THE ABOVE

In my All-University Cross-Country Championship, my Sophomore year, I maintained a 100-meter lead over the field early in the race. I held the separation or increased it slightly, glancing over my shoulder occasionally as the winding, hilly trail through the woods allowed.

And then, with a mile left in the race, as the field was exiting the forest into the campus lawn and clearing, “the bear jumped on my back.” Hard. I had apparently “spent myself” in the early stages of the race, unknowingly, and the adrenaline rush of the race start had fooled me.

The gap I had created over the large field was disappearing; I could feel it. And I could hear it in the energy of the crowd along the trail.

It was no longer “the field” behind me, as it was strung out by the ruthless pain and relentless click of the stopwatch. It was the foot pound of two athletes, each separated by 25 yards or so.

With 800 meters to go, a half mile, a runner quickly stepped past me, giving me no chance to try to match his pace. He began to separate in front of me, first 5 meters, then 10, then 25. Soon, another athlete came alongside me, and quickly put distance between us.

The crowd was alive, and animated, having seen the drama unfold as the leaders, and then the field, emerged from the woods and began the grassy half-mile hill climb towards the finish.

My form had eroded and I was succumbing quickly to the anguish inflicted by the fast start. I was now in third place, losing yet more ground to my remaining pursuers.

What happened next? I’m not even sure. That’s probably “the thing.” I’m certain it was NONE of the seven responses listed above.

Already spent, and with angry muscles and lungs on fire, I closed the “insurmountable” 50-meter gap with 200-300 meters to the Finish Line. I passed one man, and then the other, and crashed through the Finish Line Ribbon victorious, with the last man I passed left crumpled on the ground just behind me. He had stumbled and leapt across the tape I had already broken, trying to hold me off, and was now prostrate on the ground inside the finish chute.

Other events, such as the Regional Junior Olympic Mile Championship, leave me recalling the same Overcomer Mystery: It’s NONE of the seven motivations listed above that delivered the Victory. It’s “not about me”—as were the first seven choices. I, me, I, me. Garbage. While those superficial motivations can deliver some “results” in this present age, it is at best a hollow victory to be reveled in, temporarily.

What is “Number Eight”? What is a REAL Reason to do the impossible and re-pass competitors who have left you in the dust near the Finish Line, and the race is now clearly over?

Extract the selfish and prideful motives and...realize it is time to abandon, there is no pain threshold or calculation to be considered. There is no personal cost to be weighed, no judgment or applause of mere humans to influence. It’s Bigger than that. “It’s just because IT IS,” come what may. Transcendent.

Number Eight is simple. It is just...

Go Time!

GOOOOOO TIMMMMMMME!

Go!

3-2-GOOOO-1, in that order. Now. Come what may.

So, what is my point? When it is go time, you will know, and you will abandon all safeguards and calculations. You’ll abandon your reputation and anything and everything that is holding you back from “on earth as it is in heaven.” No consideration of yourself, no listening to idle chatter by false witnesses, no yeah-but, no holding back. It’s go time when it’s go time.

For JESUS! Not self! It’s not a “feeling” and not a “passion,” it’s not a religion or self-control or commitment—it’s a recognition of the only thing that matters! Let go of you and Cypher’s religion! It’s Go Time!

•  Are You On Board With Absolutely Anything God Wants?