Obtaining the Prize

Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it.

                                                            1 Corinthians 9:24

               Paul is using the analogy of a runner here, talking about the endurance and discipline runners must have to finish the race. I began to run about two years ago and started to realize how much of a mental thing it is to finish well. When you run you have to keep your mind in the right state and push on through the pain of it all. If you have your mind in the right place and have self-discipline in the way of pushing yourself to the limit, then you will far exceed what you ever thought possible for your body. In the same way, we as Christians, must have our mindset in the right place to finish strong. God has given us a mission, a race to finish let’s say. And it is our job to finish that race to the best of our ability. I want to be able to say like Paul did “That I fought the good fight, I have finished the race”. Being able to set my head done on my pillow every night and know that I gave it all I had and held nothing back from the Lord or those around me. In Hebrews 12:1 the writer tells us to “Lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us”. When I go for a run I try to carry as little as I can and add very little weight to my body, because the more weight I add on the more difficult it will be to run to the best of my ability. And in the same way I do that, I must lay aside the sins and burdens that I carry with me each day and give them to the Lord. Only then will I be able to run the course that He has given me with everything I have, for His glory. Obtaining the prize of eternity with my savior and king.

Application- make a list of things (small or large) that hold me down from running with all I have.