“Run to Win”

…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….” 

-I Corinthians 9:24b-27a, NLT

 Sports—done right—are good for the body, mind, and soul—both in this world and the World to come.

Sports have been an integral part of my life from my earliest days onwards. Like most boys during my formative years, the sport changed with the seasons, and if I wasn’t playing league or school ball, I could be found with like-minded friends engaged in the seasonal sport of choice.

Oh, what great, fond memories of those halcyon days with my sport-loving friends!

Perhaps no biblical writer understood the metaphorical, spiritual importance of sports and physical training better than Paul. Being a part of the Greco-Roman world, where competitive games were ubiquitous, Paul would have been readily exposed to the sports-obsessed culture of his day.

Thus, Paul offers us sound teaching about living life well in the current Kingdom of God in preparation for living life well on the New Earth (and the restoration of all things) at the Second Coming of Christ (see Romans 8 and Revelation 21). We are, after all, going to live forever, so it is incumbent upon us to put a lot of thought and effort into what that life will be like in God’s eternity.

So, from Paul, this vital instruction for now and then:

· Run to win: decide from the outset to pursue excellence in every facet of life; be a winner for the glory of God!

· Be purposeful: make good use of your time, spending your energies on the things that matter most.

· Be disciplined: have a plan, and if you get off track, return to that plan.

· Train, train, train: be steady and determined to stay the course to the very end of your days.

· Be clear-minded about the final goal: your purposeful, sustained, spiritual training results in a benefit that cannot be earned or purchased in this life—an eternal prize given by God that we will enjoy forever and ever!

Finally, Paul, having “run to win” in his life of serving Christ, provides this sage advice for his protegee, Timothy: “Do not waste time….Instead, train yourself to be godly. Physical training is good, but training for godliness is much better, promising benefits in this life and in the life to come” (I Timothy 4:7-8, NLT).

So, my brothers and sisters, be like Paul, “Run to win.” You, and those you influence, will benefit now, but most especially you will benefit in the life to come!

It’s at that point in our Home everlasting we will join in singing: It will be worth it all when we see Jesus! Life’s trials will seem so small when we see Christ. One glimpse of his dear face, all sorrow will erase. So, bravely run the race till we see Christ.

Indeed! Bravely run the race till you see Christ!

A fellow beggar along the Way,

Greg