In the movie Chariots of Fire, Olympic athlete Harold Abrahams says the following when reflecting on his upcoming race:
“And now in one hour’s time, I will be out there again. I will raise my eyes and look down that corridor; 4 feet wide, with 10 lonely seconds to justify my existence. But will I?”
Ten seconds to justify my existence.
Ten seconds to prove my worth.
Ten seconds to know that I’m valuable.
How very, very sad. And yet how very, very familiar. I might say it like this:
One hour to prove I’m a good worker.
One clever blog post to remind people to keep reading.
One insightful tweet to make people think I’m smart.
In the end, though, it’s just a race. It’s just 150 characters. It’s just another project at work. And we are left wondering, “Who am I? Am I really worth anything?”
We don’t need 10 seconds to justify our existence; we have something better. Jesus did it for us not in 10 seconds, but in 6 hours on a Friday afternoon.
Those six hours free us from the burden of self-justification. With His arms outstretched, Jesus told us what our purpose is. Why we are here. Who we are.
We live in freedom – freedom to work. To run. To write. To live. Because Jesus has justified us.
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Awesome stuff man…thanks for the reminder to keep reading. = )
Well said. I’m putting together a sermon right now and was looking for this “ten seconds” quote. I found more than I had hoped for!
“The Master said, “Martha, dear Martha, you’re fussing far too much and getting yourself worked up over nothing. Only one thing is essential, and Mary has chosen it, and it won’t be taken from her.”” -Luke 10
Thanks, Norm – Glad the article was helpful.