“You must run in such a way that you will win.” 1 Corinthians 9:24 NLT
“There are essential things you need to succeed in your spiritual life.”
My thoughts today are about “planning to win.”
Everybody loves a winner; everyone wants to be a winner. No one competes in order to lose. Why give so much effort and such a waste of energy without any intent or hope of winning? Now admittedly, some run just for the beneficial exercise of doing so, but that is never true in real competition. In competition, you participate to win.
Solomon observed that the expected is not always the outcome, “The fastest runner does not always win the race . . the strongest doesn’t always win the battle. The wise are often poor, and the skillful are not necessarily wealthy. Those who are educated don’t always lead successful lives. Time and chance happen to them all.” Ecclesiastes 9:11 NLT/NIV. The winner is not always the best, nor always the fastest, nor even the same one who usually wins.
There can be reasons the best and fastest may not win. A competitor could be disqualified for a false start or for interfering with another runner. Their body may yield to weariness and they quit, unable to finish. Even training, preparedness, or stamina may sometimes fail them. If not the swift who win the prize, who does?
Sometimes the winner is the one with the most heart, simply the more determined competitor who refuses to lose. The Bible urges you, “You must run in such a way that you will win.“ 1 Corinthians 9:24 NLT. Such a winning way could include: having a clear goal, a determined resolve, attention to discipline and training, ability born from experience, willingness to sacrifice, and a single-minded focus. Those are the same things you need to succeed in your spiritual life; that is a race you must not lose no matter the effort and sacrifice involved.
“Let us lay aside very weight, and the sin that so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross . .” Hebrews 12:1-2 NKJV. There’s the secret; do everything you can, then look to Jesus for His example and inspiration for anything you thought you couldn’t do.
Near the end of his life, Paul wrote to young Timothy, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith . . and there is reserved for me the (winner’s) crown of righteousness which the Lord shall give.” 2 Timothy 4:7-8. Fought, finished, faithful! If you are looking for easy, you are not planning to win.
My prayer for you today is that you prepare to succeed in the eternal things that matter most.