1 Corinthians 9:24 Don’t you realize that in a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize? So run to win!
How tragic it would be for a world-class sprinter to train and go to the competition prepared. Get in their lane, adjust their blocks to ensure they have a good push-off, and get into their blocks ready to race. The gun fires to signify the race is beginning, and that runner just stays in the blocks and looks up and says "Was I supposed to run?" The onlookers might say "Why didn't he run?" and their confusion would be justified because that runner was ready, but did not respond to the starters pistol because no one had told them what to look for to begin their run.
They had been training to go but did not know about the starter's pistol beginning the race and now they had missed it. When we study the Word of God, the living Word is preparing us to run the race set before us. Then God shoots the starter's pistol to alert us it is time to run the race and we run, But according to Paul we don't just run, we run to win. The victory of that race is souls saved and lives changed! Paul continues to make this point in verse 25 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. 26 So I run with purpose in every step. I am not just shadowboxing.
To run with purpose is to know what your purpose is in life. For the believer, it is to share the message of Christ with a lost and dying world. The downhill morals we are seeing in our world today may be a direct result of Christians not running the race, and it could be. no one told them. Here is the wake-up call!! Study God's Word, share your testimony, and make disciples who will then take the baton and run the race with you. Jesus spoke to this very subject where he said in Luke 9:23 Then he said to the crowd, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross daily, and follow me.
True athletes commit to train, train, and train some more. But their purpose in that training is to go and win the race they run in. That is their true purpose, and that coincides with our purpose as believers, and our "wins" are not in blue ribbons or trophies, but in converts, who become disciples. That is our winning!! Paul wrote to the church in Philippi the following words in Philippians 1:6 And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns. Our race is over when the finished work of Jesus is done and that day will be when Jesus returns for His church. The finish line is surely visible, but there is still so more running to be done. Step up and get in the lane God has placed you in and get ready to run, and for sure, the Clarion Call has already sounded, so get running. Clarion Call (def) - A strong request for something to happen.
Are you listening? I can hear it clearly and so can you. Don't be a distracted runner! One final word from the Word is in Luke 9:62 But Jesus told him, “Anyone who puts a hand to the plow and then looks back is not fit for the Kingdom of God.”
The Pilgrimage Continues
David Warren