Run this race
I was reading from the word today and a thought really struck me… Paul says in 1 corinthians 9:27 ” But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection, lest that by any means, when I have preached to others I myself should be cast away ” I thought about this, and studied it for a bit, and the Spirit has impressed on me that this is important. This raises the question of are we ever really secure in going to heaven? Paul is an example to many of us. He and Jesus were 2 totally different characters, Paul being very intense, and Jesus being very intense in a much more calm and miraculous, profound kind of way. What jumped out at me today was, Paul was only secure with his future when he was doing what he knew to be right. Each day was a new day, each day he had to bring his body into subjection, or make himself do what needed to be done. It appears that he never took anything for granted, that salvation was a precious gift,that he worked very hard to keep. He didnt just get the gift, felt secure, lived his life, made changes from time to time. He was WORRIED that he would and could lose his place in eternity. He worked very hard each day, to deny himself the pleasures of this world that would crowd out his love for God, that might start to occupy his mind. He worked very hard to be completely above reproach, which is a very difficult task, and he knew that, people that claim Christ are under huge scrutiny by those that dont. They are constantly under the magnifying glass, and even 1 mistake and they jump on you HARD, and you lose your opportunity with them. Paul compares his salvation to a race, if you run a race, you will only get a reward if you finish. This stresses the importance of the daily effort, and the thought should be on our mind all the time that I need to finish this race, each day I need to do, what Paul teaches us, what Jesus teaches us, what God teaches us, we dont get to have “days off ” so to speak, if we do we will fall behind, and if we fall behind to many times, we fall out, we are not even in the race anymore. This really helped me today. In addition, Paul says ” fight the good fight” from experience I have learned that, although ” his yoke is easy and his burden is light” sometimes it is a fight, usually with self and our own worldly lusts and desires. I think the mindset needs to be a commitment to fight no matter what. Here again, if you are in a REAL fight, you either win or you lose. Who would be in a fight for their own life and only give it 1/2 an effort ? You are going to try your hardest to win, else you will lose and be very hurt.
Join me, people of God, let us make our efforts as serious as Paul, let us look at it the way he did, and not the way that we HEAR today, where there are no works involved for salvation, because there are many. It is true, that it is a gift to us, and we dont deserve it, but why did Jesus come. To heal the brokenhearted? yes, to save that which is lost? yes. To save us from sin? yes I encourage each of us, to never let the day that Jesus “lifted that load” “took that burden” “saved us from our sin” gave us a clean slate, one that you could be seen in heaven with. Let us never ASSUME that we are OK no and forever. Our conscience alone will tell us different if we will listen to it, let us RUN, let us FIGHT, let us GROW in Christ, let us CHANGE from all of our old ways that are sinful. Let us teach and spread the word, let us set our standards very high. If something is in our way or serving Christ as we think we ought, let us never just accept it, we must fight, longsuffer, until we overcome it. Never settle for giving God our 2nds he has always wanted our best, our firstfruits, even in the days of animal sacrifice he was adamant that the animal be the best one you have. Join me, pray for each other, pray for His Church, pray for the sad condition of this world. Dont be in the habit of following the majority, and things you hear about what is OK and what is not, God will reveal it to you if you use him for your source of wisdom and direction.
May God Bless His Church, and may the Saints continue to protect it with all they have, and as my Pastor says, this IS a better way !
