RUN YOUR RACE WELL

“WELL DONE MY GOOD AND FAITHFUL SERVANT” - The welcoming greeting of your Creator. These are the words that each of us should long to hear, once we pass from this life into eternity.

One of the saddest things is growing old and coming to the end of your life, never having realized your God-given purpose. The most important thing we can do is commit our lives to Jesus Christ, discover our purpose and dedicate ourselves to pursuing it.

As a coach, I always prepared my teams to “run the race well”, seeking a perishable trophy. Being regenerated by Christ and now having a new life in Him, I realize how insignificant that prize was compared to the eternal prize we all should strive for.

One of my favorite scriptures is: 1 Corinthians 9:24-27 (NLT) – “Don’t you realize that in a race, everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize? So run to win! All athletes are disciplined in their training. They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize. So I run with purpose in every step. I am not just shadowboxing. I discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what it should …”

Paul is saying, in the race of the Christian life, he wasn’t content to receive a participation ribbon. He wanted the gold medal! In ancient times and even today, athletes compete to receive a perishable crown. They labor long and hard to obtain something that lacks long term value. Paul tips his hat to such devotion, but nevertheless says “That’s not our plan. We aim higher”. Every athlete competes to win, and followers of Christ should run the Christian race for the prize, striving from an eternal perspective, seeking an imperishable crown.

We are running a race but...we must ask ourselves, what race are we running to win? Are you living for? Success? Fame? Money? Pleasure? Happiness? Security? None of these things will ever fulfill you completely. Perhaps, we have made “self” the center of our lives and don’t even realize it. How easy this can happen in a self-serving world.

When we truly grasp God’s great love for us, serving Him and winning others to Him should be the only passion in our lives worth our total commitment and pursuit. God proves His own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us - (Rom. 5:8). Let that be our motivation and resolve to let nothing prevent you from loving Christ, serving Him, and sharing the good news with others.

LET CHRIST BE YOUR COACH AND RUN TO WIN!

Discipline your body and rightly order your life so that you can run to receive the

eternal, imperishable prize. We should long to hear Jesus say: “WELL DONE MY

GOOD AND FAITHFUL SERVANT”.