So what can we learn from Paul about finishing our race well? The first thing is to learn to focus on Christ and not others. All of us are influenced by the attitudes and opinions of the people around us. We all want to be liked and accepted. This basic desire will sometimes cause us to stumble, if we compromise our faith to please people. There is only one person that we need to please; and that is Jesus Christ. Keeping Jesus in the center of our focus will keep us on track. It will also, at times, make us be out of step with the world around us. When Paul was faced with giving in to the pressure of his peers or following Jesus he chose Jesus every time.
Another thing we can do is pace ourselves. When we are young and just starting the race we are full of enthusiasm and energy. That is great, but it needs to be managed wisely. When I was in college a group of people came on campus and tried to persuade us to leave school and “do ministry right now.” They saw our training as a waste of time. They were wrong. God is never in a hurry. He has designed each of us with a unique set of gifts, talents and abilities. He intends to use those to advance the Kingdom of God in the world. Many of those abilities need to be developed and shaped. That takes time. Remember that Moses spent 40 years on the back side of the dessert before he was ready to lead the people of Israel out of Egypt. Jesus spent 30 years preparing for a three year ministry. Paul spent three years in study after his conversion before God sent him out to reach the Gentiles. Let God set the pace for your life, then follow it. Sometimes the pace will seem very slow. At other times you will feel like you cannot keep up. Trust Him. He knows the course that you have to run and the best way for you to run it.
Resist the distractions of the world. Satan is great at grabbing our attention with the new, the trendy, the glamorous, the enticing. He knows our weaknesses and he is more than ready to exploit them. We need to constantly be on our guard against these often subtle attacks. Like a runner who glances to the side during the race, these distractions can trip us up. Our best defense is to know ourselves well. Invite the Holy Spirit to reveal your vulnerabilities so that you can take steps to guard yourself in those areas. Satan loves it when Christians think they are immune from the temptations of life. He smiles and waits for his opportunity to entangle them. Early in my ministry I counseled with a couple who were preparing for marriage. As I always do, I brought up the subject of divorce. They did not want to talk about it. They boldly proclaimed that that would never happen to them. Sadly, what would never happen was exactly what did happen. We must constantly be on our guard. Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. 1 Peter 5:8 (NIV)
Above all persevere. To persevere does not mean that you will never stumble. The truth is that we will all stumble at different points in our race. It is when we stumble that the true strength of our faith is tested. Those who are strong in their faith will pick themselves up and keep running. Those who are weak in their faith will crawl to the side and give up the race. The true measure of our faith is not what we do when we are winning but what we do when we fail. Paul told the believers time and time again to persevere.
Paul wrote to Timothy to keep going and not give up the race. This is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance (and for this we labor and strive), that we have put our hope in the living God, who is the Savior of all men, and especially of those who believe. Command and teach these things. Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity. Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to preaching and to teaching. Do not neglect your gift, which was given you through a prophetic message when the body of elders laid their hands on you. Be diligent in these matters; give yourself wholly to them, so that everyone may see your progress. Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers. [1 Timothy 4:9-16 (NIV)]
No runner is in competition all of the time. Much of their time is spent in training so that they can perform their best during the race. The same is true in the Christian life. Although we must always live up to our calling, God uses much of our “normal life” as a training ground for the spiritual races ahead of us. As we face each of these races we need to determine to finish well every time.
Usain Bolt is a very gifted runner from Jamaica. He has set world records in the 100m and the 200m races. But I was disappointed in him at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. He won gold medals in both the 100m and 200m, but he did not give his best. In the 100m race, with a commanding lead, he pulled up short of the finish and coasted to the win. We cannot afford to do that in life. Paul ran hard all the way to the end. None of us know when the finish line of our race will come, so we need to keep pressing forward.
Paul did not want to forfeit the race at the end. He broke the tape in full stride. He challenges us to do the same. Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize. [1 Corinthians 9:24-27 (NIV)]
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