The two runners were lined up at the starting line. One had a wagon with rocks directly behind him, onto which his left hand was firmly holding. The other had only his running outfit and his two powerful legs.

One runner had all of his religious regulations piled like rocks in his wagon while the other had two legs called love and faith.

Not surprisingly, the second runner won the race.

Our life in Christ, our Christian race, should be run on faith and love and not on religious rules. For in Christ Jesus, neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything, but faith working through love: 

You were running well; who hindered you from obeying the truth? (Gal 5:6-7)

We live in a spiritual environment which has been made very simple: do we trust what God has provided in Christ, and do we love God and others? It’s not complicated, and it is designed to get us to our spiritual goal line fast. But if our hands our wrapped around religious rules, the joy of being in Christ will become drudgery, and our race will be tedious. Run the race on faith and love in Christ. You’ll beat the man with the wagon every time!