Live for God's Approval, Finish Well Then

Khen Lim




Bob Wieland with Rev James J Maher of Niagara University, 2015 (Image source: news.niagara.edu)

In Steven J Lawson’s, ‘Men Who Win: Pursuing the Ultimate Prize’ (Navpress, Apr 1992), the author recounts the November 1986 New York City Marathon where a certain Bob Wieland was one of about 20,000 contestants to enter the famous 42km (26mi) race. What many remember about the race isn’t so much the winner but the one who came in last. Bob became the 19,413th runner to finish. In fact he brought up the tail end of all finishers, doing it in 4 days, 2 hours, 48 minutes and 17 seconds, registering himself as the slowest of any marathon runner in history.

The spectacular part of this news is that Bob ‘ran’ using only his hands. In June 1969 while on tour of duty in Vietnam, he stepped into a buried live mortar, which blew up both his legs, resulting in amputation above the knees. Today, Bob is an inspirational Christian speaker (www.bobwieland.com) whose personal and powerful testimony leaves audiences gasping and standing on their feet and often in tears.

Bob Wieland at the 1986 NYC Marathon (Image source: amny.com)

When Bob runs, he sits on a 15-pound saddle with pads covering his clenched fists. This allows him to then ‘run’ with his arms in astride motion, one step at a time, sans wheelchair, accomplishing at his fastest, one mile an hour. For the NYC Marathon, he actually started the race a day earlier than others and finished two days after the last runner had crossed the line. In other words, it took him four days to complete the marathon.

But why bother? Why go through the pain and humiliation of ending up being not just the last but the slowest in all of history? Here’s why – Bob knew there was a great reward awaiting him just to finish the course. After having his legs blown off, he arrived at a hospital literally in a body bag and was pronounced dead. Today, Bob is very much alive and for the last forty-seven years, God has been using him to speak inspirationally to His glory, to millions.

Bob’s story is available in a movie documentary called ‘Home from the War: The Voices of Vietnam’ (2009) as well as episode #4.14 of ‘Ripley’s Believe It Or Not!’ (2003) series where he recounts his life as a land mine survivor.

Encouraged by outstanding people like Bob, each of us can follow through on Paul’s message and finish well too. Make it our challenge today. Let us live for God’s approval. Let us finish well.