Making Disciples

Running the Race to Win the Prize

Craig Osten
Highlands Elder

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

I have always found it interesting that in three different passages in the New Testament, the analogy of “running the race” is mentioned. Like all things in God’s word, the repeated references are not an accident, but instead are an emphasis of a basic truth.

Besides 1 Corinthians 9:24, in 2 Timothy 4:7-8, Paul tells Timothy as he languishes in prison awaiting his death: “I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race. I have kept the faith.”

Finally, in Hebrews 12:1-2, the author writes, “Therefore, since we are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.”

This September, I will celebrate my 40th spiritual birthday. As I reflect on those 40 years, the analogy of a race – especially as I get closer and closer to the finish line – makes increasing sense.

The type of race I am thinking that Paul and the author of Hebrews were likely referring to are the long-distance races held in ancient Greece. These races originated about 490 B.C., when a soldier named Pheidippides ran 25 miles from the town of Marathon to Athens. His story became the basis for the modern-day marathon races.

I have never run a physical marathon, and with an arthritic left knee never will, but I have friends who have. They have told me that to run and finish a marathon takes great endurance and perseverance. It requires pushing though pain and not giving up when you have the temptation to do so. If you are going to make it the whole way, you must keep your eyes solely focused on the goal of crossing the finish line and receiving their prize.

But once you make it to the end, you have a feeling of exhaustion and exhilaration when you finish. Your body relaxes and you drop to your knees in thankfulness of reaching the finish line.

What an incredible analogy to our Christian lives! Is it any wonder why Paul and the author of Hebrews chose to use the example of a race to teach a vital and applicable lesson?

For me, there have been times since I became a Christian where I have experienced great pain and could have given up. But I chose to keep running. There have been times when I have become distracted, taken my eyes off the finish line, and veered off course, only to be corrected by the Holy Spirit. Once corrected, I chose to keep running.

There have been times when the finish line has seemed so distant that I have asked myself, “Do I truly have what it takes to finish the race?” And in those times of self-doubt and temptation, the Lord has reminded me that I do have what it takes – faith – and I keep running.

For a marathon runner to win a race, it takes great mental and physical discipline. For us as Christians, it takes a different sort of discipline: spiritual discipline. But the reward for exercising such discipline is great and goes far beyond what the earthly runner receives. As Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 9:25: “Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we are imperishable.”

For us as Christians, we run the race not for our glory, but so we can obtain the prize of being in the presence of God for eternity. That is why I (and we) must always be in training through practicing the spiritual discipline of focusing on Jesus, exercising self-control, being in God’s Word and in prayer seeking His guidance, and encouraging our fellow “runners,” so we can keep the faith, cross the finish line, and win the race.

I would challenge all of us to never stop training and to keep on running even when it is not easy. Through practicing spiritual discipline and encouraging our fellow believers to do so as well, we can successfully keep the faith and finish the race to receive an imperishable prize.

Prayer: Father, help me to keep my eyes focused on you – to have the discipline to run the race for your glory, and not mine, and to finish well. Help me to also encourage others who are in the race with me so that we may build each other up and bear each other’s burdens along the way, so we can finish the race and receive the prize of life eternal with you. Amen.

Application

Ron Wolfley
Highlands Elder

But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.  For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror.  For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like.  But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.” (James 1:22-25)

We can read God's Word, we can hear God's Word, we can know God's Word but unless we live God's Word, putting our faith into action, we are merely checking boxes.

My old football coach used to say, "You can draw all the X's and O's up on that board you want, you can design the perfect play, but when those X's and O's start breathing and taking the garbage out to the curb every Tuesday, you got a whole new set of problems."

 It's one thing to know something and quite another to do something correctly.

James reminds us of this truth in our walk with Jesus. He reminds us to not be like the man or woman who looks at themselves in a mirror and walks away and forgets what he/she was like. How do we live our lives? Do we walk away from that mirror, walk away from God's Word and forget what it says, forget who we are and forget who we belong to? Or even worse, remember God’s Word and not DO what it says? Do we disobey God’s Word? James encourages us to look into God’s Word, apply it to our lives, and be God’s Word by doing.

What you say and what you do is who you are. How else could anyone perceive your person and your meaning? What do we say during our days? What comes out of our mouth? What do we laugh at or not laugh at? What do we do during our days? What do we allow to rival our faith in Jesus Christ? How do we apply God’s Word to living? What do we do and what do we say?

Sometimes, when watching tape of a football game I played in, my coach would put the red dot on me on the screen and say, “I see the what but I want to know the why. Why would you do this?”

Knowing our why is critical to doing God’s Word. Not only is our why important to God, who looks on the inside of man, but our why will help us DO through the power of the Holy Spirit.  

 Jesus said, "If you love me you will obey my commands."

Love should be our motivation. Love for God and love for people should compel us forward as we walk away from that mirror. Are we checking boxes in our walk with Jesus Christ or are we compelled by God's love for us, compelled by the gospel, compelled by the Savior's love for us to obey His commands?

The fruit of the spirit starts with love and ends in self-control. Once we understand our why, acting on our faith becomes an exercise in being and not just doing?

Knowing our why will help us do.

Prayer: Father God, thank you for Your Word. Thank you for the wisdom and the life you provide us through Your words. Help me to remember what Your Word says; help me to do what Your Word says; help me to be what Your Word says. Help me to apply it to my life and change my life. Amen.