HePrayed.com

Home
Weekly Devotions
Quotes
Bible Browser
Excerpts
Verses
Contact


Running the Christian Race
1 Corinthians 9:24-25
(24) Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain. (25) And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible.

Let’s say that today the Lord announced to you personally that He was going to return next week and on top of that He said that it would be similar to the days of Noah where He would only save a handful of people on the whole earth. In other words, only a few people (out of billions) would receive salvation. What would you do between now and next week? Would you plead God’s mercy? Repent? War against sin harder than you ever did before? Cry before God with tears for deliverance, and urge your family and loved ones to do the same?

We know that God is going to save a lot more than a handful of people… but it is an insult that we do not run the race as only one person were going to receive the prize. Instead we tend to be lazy and only want to do ‘just enough to get by with our salvation.’ Shouldn’t the love of God motivate a person more than his or her own gain?

Run the Christian race like there is only one winner in the whole earth. Run the race because it honors God. Resist Satan and hate sin because God is glorified. Cry to God with tears. Fear God to the point where you would never want to offend Him even once. This is the careful, mature Christian life that every Christian should walk. This is not the ‘miraculous victorious Christian life’; instead this is really what the normal Christian life should be. Start taking God’s word seriously. Throw out the hindrances. No runner ever won a race with a backpack full of gold strapped to his back. Cast aside worldly cares as rubbish and run the race like there’s only one winner. Remember that the Christian life is a race: it demands hard work, perseverance and discipline. It does not come without sweating.

It’s interesting how strenuously people train for the Olympics… all for a perishable crown! Take note of some observations John Troup made about what it takes to even make an appearance in the Olympics:
  •  The average Olympian trains four hours a day at least 310 days a year for six years before succeeding.
  •  By 7:00 a.m. most athletes have done more than many people do all day
  •  The four years before an Olympics, Greg Louganis probably practiced each of his dives 3,000 times.
  •  Kim Zmeskal has probably done every flip in her gynmastics routine at least 20,000 times
  •  Janet Evans has completed more than 240,000 laps
  •  Swimmers train an average of 10 miles a day, at speeds of 5 mph in the pool
  •  Marathon runners average 160 miles a week at 10 mph.
If an Olympic athlete can train this hard for a tiny gold medal and 15 minutes of fame, why cannot the believer labor even a fraction as much for his Savior, and the salvation of the perishing world?

Take Paul’s advice and get serious about running the Christian race. Run the race as if only one person was to win, and that person was you.

“Saints are sinners who kept on going.” - Robert Louis Stevenson
Click here to view more weekly devotionals