“You’ve
all been to the stadium and seen athletes race. Everyone runs; but only one
wins. Run to win (succeed). All good athletes train hard. They do it for a gold
medal that tarnishes and fades. You’re after one that’s gold eternally. I don’t know about you, but I’m running hard
for the finish line. I’m giving it everything I’ve got. No sloppy living for
me! I’m staying alert and in top condition. I’m not going to get caught
napping, telling everyone else all about it and then missing out myself.”
1 Corinthians 9:24-27 (The Message Bible)
This morning, as I spent time reading my Bible, the
scripture above jumped out at me. That
tends to happen when I come across a scriptural principle that needs to be incorporated
in my own life. I am writing to you today,
but honestly, I am writing this for myself too.
This scripture reminds us that since we are already in the process of
living this life, we should do what it takes to make the most of it. We should deliberately live it well. We ought to run the race of this life in a way
that ensures that we win…that we are successful in the things that matter most.
The Apostle Paul is a great example of living a deliberate
life. Prior to his conversion, he was well-known
for his persecution of Christians. He
had many kicked out of the synagogue, many beaten, and many killed. But upon
his conversion, he was commissioned to spread the good news of Jesus Christ. He let nothing deter him – not his reputation
rightfully earned by his prior horrific actions, and not the distrust of other
Christians. He had a job to do and he
refused to allow his focus to shift. Paul was busy.
He preached, he taught, he traveled, and he was a tent maker. He went to prison for teaching about Jesus. He didn’t even let being in prison stop him
from doing what he was called to do. He
wrote and evangelized while imprisoned. He
even made a point to discipline his body.
He decided what was best to keep himself fit so that he could do the
work he was called to, and he did it. With consideration to all we know that he
did and the fact that Paul wrote over half of the New Testament, I would
venture to say that Paul’s life was a major success.
Because Paul ran his race effectively, lives of people the
world over have been affected for Jesus Christ.
Have you ever wondered what the impact would be if you ran your race
well? I doubt your mind can really
conceive of all the possibilities, just like Paul didn’t realize two thousand
years ago that a little paragraph in his teachings would touch the heart of Barbara
W. Steen who would turn around and share it with you.
So here’s what I’m going to do and I want to encourage you
to do the same-
I am going to spend time with the Lord, praying for wisdom
and guidance for every role in my life – the roles of pastor’s wife, daughter,
sister, in-law, friend, employee and blog writer. I want to know what success in each of those
roles looks like. Once I know, I plan to
be deliberate in living each role well.
I pray that each one reading this will take up the challenge
to run the race of your life well. Live
deliberately, knowing that doing so has the potential to touch lives far beyond
anything you can imagine.
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