GoldSash

"'I'll run no matter what!' Ahimaaz insisted. 'Alright then, run!' Joab said." (2 Samuel 18:23)

One soldier was afraid to take the life of the rebel Absalom because he overheard the king's command to bring him back unharmed. Joab had to do the deed himself. And then his armor bearers finished him off. But this young man Ahimaaz is fearless, He volunteers to bear the bad news of Absalom's death to the king. Joab refuses him because he usually brought good news, and sends another. Ahimaaz persists to the point where General Joab says, "O what could it hurt, the other runner is already way out front. If you want to run, take off."

Ahimmaaz knew the territory. He took a short cut. He ran faster than the Ehtiopian. He was the official courier of the battle's victory in the records. Ahimaaz means brother of anger. He was the son of Zadok which means righteousness. He was the son of righteousness. In time he became the high priest. "I'll run no matter what!"

I think of heroes and heroins who have run no matter what. In the early 1900s some departing missionaries packed their belongings in coffins instead of cargo trunks because they didn't expect to return. That is no-holes-barred commitment! "I'll run no matter what!"

I have read of women who were not allowed to hold credentials as licensed ministers, but who were given exhorter's papers and could evangelize. They held "revivals" in towns for as long as four to five years! They coud not be called "pastors" but new churches were established and the kingdom grew. "I'll run no matter what!"

I remember being in a district board meeting in which a young man was receiving accolades that he wasn't even aware of. He had taken a tough assignment in a small town notorious for chewing up pastors and spitting them out. But he was anxious for an opportunity. The district officials were preparing to close the little church, but he begged for a chance to take it. What did they have to lose? Now, several years later he was being heralded as an example of faithfulness and determination. It was remarkable how the environment had turned around in the life of the church. "I'll run no matter what!"

You are tempted to slack off. I've run the back hills and no one has recognized. No matter. Run anyway. At times I get tired. I feel like I can't go on. Get your second wind of the Spirit. Run. Run to your king faithful courier. "I'll run no matter what!"