I Corinthians 9:24-26. “Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it. And everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown. Therefore I run thus: Not with uncertainty. Thus I fight: not as one who beats the air”.
Only free men could compete in Greek athletic games, but even they had to prove they had trained diligently for ten months before the contests. They also had to spend thirty days prior to the games exercising in the gym. Like an athlete in training, the Apostle Paul disciplines himself to fulfill his mission. He ran with a clear goal ahead of him.
In the Greek games only one runner won a prize, but in the Christian race, all can win the prize. To finish the race and win, Paul states that the athlete needs discipline. Oswald Sanders said, “Any ambition which centers around and terminates upon oneself is unworthy, while an ambition which has the mission of God as its center is not only legitimate but positively praise worthy”.
Keep in mind, a church leader can run in vain and not accomplish the will of God. Run with mission in mind, I Corinthians 9:24-26 characterizes a man with a mission.
Run to win! Run is the Greek word TRECHO. It means to run, strive to advance, exert effort, to make progress, intellectual striving or spiritual achievement. Every runner could run in vain, potentially. Even a man with a mission can get sidetracked on tributaries, run in circles, or go around the mountain too many times.
Many potential obstacles lay in the path of a child of God. Know with certainty that the devil opposes all who are on the Lord’s side and will contest every step you make to please God.
The world, pleasure, and the devil make an unholy trinity that try to trap you at every turn and wound you in every war. A child of God with a mission must be fully prepared to endure. Endurance is the only real virtue that will guarantee a finish to the mission being accomplished.
Let us run with endurance the race set before us (Hebrew 12:1). In 2016 “Run To Win”!
