You're minding your own business. But you can't help noticing that your neighbor is building a beauty - the best sailboat you have ever seen. His investment in it must be huge. Every detail is the subject of exquisite craftsmanship. You ask, "What is this yacht being built for?" "A once-in-a-lifetime race," he replies. The boat and the forthcoming race are the talk of the town. The race day finally arrives. Everyone is there. "Our yacht" is easily the finest among many splendid entries. With pride you watch your neighbor (now a close friend) open the sails for full speed. What are the people around you whispering? They are puzzled, "Why doesn't he use his map?" It is true; the organizers have supplied a chart and directions for today's race, and each contestant studies them closely. Your friend's package remains unopened. Something else is wrong: "Why doesn't he hold the wheel to give the rudder its direction?" "Why is he drifting at the mercy of the winds and currents?" With concern you feel the wind freshening. You watch it catch the open sails and carry the boat along. Your friend is already off course. He has little chance of winning the race now. Worse, the winds strengthen, driving him forward at alarming speed. He seems unconcerned. You can't believe what is happening. With horror you watch the man and his beautiful craft dash to meet distant cliffs. For all its fine workmanship, the boat is frail; it breaks up violently against the jagged rocks. Like you, all the spectators are dumfounded. What a terrible loss. How needless. How foolish. How tragic.

The parable of the sailboat is not too far-fetched. Each human is a marvel of design. King David saw in his own body the art and craftsmanship of the ultimate Master. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well (Psalm 139:14). He also knew that life is like a race, swift and brief. Our days "quickly pass, and we fly away" (Psalm 90:10). Show me, O LORD, my life's end and the number of my days; let me know how fleeting is my life. You have made my days a mere handbreadth; the span of my years is as nothing before You. Each man's life is but a breath (Psalm 39:4-5). Man is like a breath; his days are like a fleeting shadow (Psalm 144:4). Each one of us is slipping rapidly through life. Have we thought about where we are going? We may have set personal goals, but do we know the objective, the real goal of life? After all, race contestants determine neither the course nor its prize. Organizers decide such things. Officials set the regulations and judge by them. Anyone who wants to win must run the designated course by the official rules. Did you give yourself birth? Are you the source of your own life? Your race, then, belongs to Another. If He gave you life, He also gives its goal. If He made you, He also plans out your true course. Your part is to learn His course, follow His rules, and give your best. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly... (1 Corinthians 9:25-26). If anyone competes as an athlete, he does not receive the victor's crown unless he competes according to the rules.... Reflect on what I am saying, for the Lord will give you insight into all this (2 Timothy 2:5,7).