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Do you remember when running was actually fun? Doesn’t it now blow your mind to think that running was ever considered a vital element of playing?
The revelation that running is actually work came when I went out for high school football. I never really understood what “taking a lap” had to do with scoring touchdowns. The wind sprints made more sense, but most of us on the team approached those like they were the primary cause of an early death. Of course, the coaches knew something we didn’t even want to consider: It takes hard work to win!
We all admire the exhausted defensive line holding on for one more down to win the game. We’ve all applauded the guy who trips and falls in a race, but gets up and finishes the race dead last, bleeding and limping. People are inspired by the courage and dedication it takes to win.
Those of us who have long passed the prime of our athletic conditioning still fantasize about running like the wind and breaking the tape just ahead of our competitors. Our flesh is certainly weak, but deep down inside we sense that we were created to run – and to win. That takes dedication.
One of my very favorite quotes comes from one of the greatest coaches in football history, Vince Lombardi. He would greet his new players every new season with this challenge: “Gentlemen, we shall strive for perfection, knowing all the while that perfection is unattainable. But if we chase perfection, we shall surely catch excellence.” Wow!
The apostle Paul, along with other New Testament writers, grasped this fact. He used the metaphor of running a race to convey the idea that our life on earth is like a competition for which we must prepare, and to which we must commit if we expect to win. Paul admonishes us to run in such a way as to win the prize, an everlasting crown.
He notes that this can happen only if we go into strict training, totally committing ourselves to the victory (1 Corinthians 9:24-27). The writer of Hebrews encourages us to “throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us” (Hebrews 12:1-3).
In our preparation to compete in life, it is necessary to eliminate anything that gets in the way of winning. It takes absolute dedication and perseverance.
Everyone at some point is ready to quit. Life is full of pain and suffering. Maximum dedication and effort are essential to overcoming the circumstances that resist our progress.
Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, is also our example. For the joy set before Him, He endured … even the cross. The everlasting prize was His motivation to run his race flawlessly. When we grow weary and are fast losing heart, we need to consider Him.
That is central to Paul’s motivation. In Philippians 3:7-15, he considers every earthly thing, tangible and intangible, as garbage compared to the “surpassing greatness” of knowing Christ Jesus the Lord. Paul’s ultimate desire is to be found in Christ, knowing Him intimately and sharing in His resurrection.
That motive is so powerful that Paul is able to forget everything else and press on, straining to win the prize of eternal life with his Lord. In Paul’s last recorded epistle, 2 Timothy 4:6-9, he implies that his death is near. He states confidently that he has “fought the good fight, finished the race, and kept the faith.” Now, there is in store for him the crown of righteousness, the prize that is awarded to all who will run the race to win their everlasting life.
I realize that we live in a day when abused grace and effortless faith characterize the dominant theology. Ears itch to be tickled with the idea that if we intellectually assent to correct doctrine, our tickets to heaven are punched and we can spend the rest of our earthly days hanging around the bleachers of life watching others struggle to work out their salvation with fear and trembling (Philippians 2:12).
In the end we will be judged by our deeds, not our belief system (Revelation 20:12-13; James 2:14).
Indeed, we cannot “earn” salvation; it is a gift that comes by faith rather than by our feeble human efforts. We are saved by grace to do good works God prepared for us to do “in Christ” (Ephesians 2:10).
There is a race marked out for us by the righteous Judge. That race requires serious dedication and maximum effort against all resistance to overcome this present world. The desire to know Christ intimately moves us to put aside every distraction so that we can finish our race and take our place in the winners’ circle with Him. Lord God, help us to run with purpose so that we may win our eternal prize.
God bless you.
LeRoy
[LeRoy Curtis is a graduate of the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and Asbury Theological Seminary. He served four years as a U.S. Naval Officer after which he became a pastor, Bible professor, educator, author, and missionary living in E. Africa for eight years where he and his wife developed a curriculum of biblical studies for untrained pastors in rural Kenya. His passion for training young church leaders takes him to various parts of the U.S., Latin America, and Africa. He and Judy are currently residing in Carrollton, Georgia.]
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