Running The Race

1 Corinthians 9:24-27 (NLT) 24 Don’t you realize that in a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize? So run to win! 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. 27 I discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what it should. Otherwise, I fear that after preaching to others I myself might be disqualified.

As a kid, I lived in a small rural community. It was mostly farmland with the biggest crop being oranges. Our community was surrounded by mountains with the rolling hills coming right down to our doorstep. I played in those hills from morning to night. One day, while I was in the mountains playing with my brother – I noticed a bunch of runners from the local High School running up and down the mountain. I remember my brother and myself running with them just for the fun of it. What caught my attention was that I noticed that most of them we’re wearing weights around their ankles to help them build up endurance. I made a remark to one of the young men saying that they could go faster if they took those off. He explained to me that when they run the actual race they take them off but when they are practicing they keep them on to make their legs stronger. That picture has never left my mind. This scripture depicts this very thing. We, as Christians must discipline our bodies in such a way that when needed – we can run the race with strength and endurance. We have to discipline our lives with prayer and with the reading of the Word. We must always run our race to win and we must always run with integrity that we would never be disqualified.