YOU HAVE TO RUN THE RACE TO WIN THE CROWN.

YOU HAVE TO RUN THE RACE TO WIN THE CROWN!

 

I am not very interested in sports, but once and a while I place myself in front of the television and watch a competition. It can be quite exiting. It looks like everybody is doing their best to win, but there will be only one winner. I will recite 1. Corinthians 9:24 and to the end of the chapter: “Do you not know that those who run in a race, all run, but one receives the prize. Run in such a way that you may obtain. And everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown. Therefore I run thus: not with uncertainty. Thus I fight: not as one who beats the air. But I discipline my body and I bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified.”

When one is watching the competition on television, it might look as everything is quite simple. You and I cannot see all the hours of training or all the pain or all the times they have been hurt or wounded. We do not see all the times that they had to say no to certain food or drinks. Each sport demands its own diet. We do not see either all the times they have missed important events in their families. An athlete has to live a life in many forms of self-denial.

It is the apostle Paul who compares an athlete with living a life as a Christian. He says in Corinthians 9:24 that an athlete doesn’t run without having a goal. How purposeful and determined are you as a Christian? Some Christians live like they believed in fate and not in a God who has created heaven and earth. God has a plan for every person. If you do not live with a certain purpose, you will not follow God’s plan for your life. I have been to prayer meetings where the prayers have gone in all kinds of directions. Some people pray to God. Others are fighting against the devil and there is no unity. We are not receiving any answers nor results either. When Jesus had left His disciples to return to His father, 120 people gathered in one accord waiting for The Holy Spirit to come. Jesus had promised them that. The Holy Spirit came after 10 days and that is what we call Pentecost.

In Ephesians 2:8 we read that we are saved by grace. It is not by deeds, but it is a gift from God. It might almost look like the opposite of Philippians 2:12 saying that you should work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. Earlier translations are more clearly saying that we should work on the salvation of our soul. Our newborn spirit is saved by grace, but we need to work on the salvation of our soul. We live in a kind of dualism. Jesus has taken our sins and our sicknesses on the Cross, but we do sin, and we can get sick. Jesus has conquered the devil on the Cross, but in James 4:7 it says that we should resist the devil, and he will flee from us. We have to learn to receive everything Jesus already has done for us and all the things He has given to us. On the other hand, we have to work to receive the imperishable crown.

The Bible is full of promises, and it gives us a recipe for living a life in victory. One cannot live a sinful life because the wage of sin is death. (Romans 6:23) The Word of God is our spiritual food, and we need daily food and a variety of food. If we only read about grace, it will be wrong, but if we only concentrate on sin or its consequences, it will also be lopsided. We must have both.

Peter writes in his second letter 3:14 that we should stand before God in peace and be blameless and without spots. Matthew 25 has a story about 10 virgins. Five had oil in their lamps and they were ready to meet their Bridegroom, but five lacked oil in their lamps and they came too late to the wedding. The door was closed. I seriously do not want anybody to come in that situation. I do not know exactly what the oil represents, but The Holy Spirit is often called oil. A bride will be longing for her bridegroom. If you live in a love-relationship to Jesus, your Bridegroom, keeping a daily contact with Him and preparing for the wedding in Heaven, you do not fear that the door is closed.

I am quite sure that athletes become tired and sometimes worn-out. Maybe there are times when they want to quit. I believe that Christians might feel like that sometimes also. The resistance might sometimes be quite strong. Maybe that we forget that Jesus has promised to be with us always and The Holy Spirit is called our Helper. Do we allow Him to be our Helper? Do we receive all the blessings, or do we only focus on the difficulties?

 

KEEP RUNNING BECAUSE THE CROWN IS WAITING FOR YOU!

Mother Else