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Run in such a way that you may obtain it
Last week we discovered what we need to do to
survive and thrive in a pagan world. As I said
last week, we often yield to the social and
cultural pressure, which on almost every
occasion serves to create division between God
and the believer. Why does this happen? The main
reason this happens is because most of us are
not willing to walk in Christ as He demands and
requires, but rather we want to do it our way.
And this is the biggest mistake that we can
make. I say this because the way we think is not
necessarily the way God thinks. And sometimes,
the roads we choose are not the roads that God
desires us to travel upon. This is something
that is clearly stated in
Isaiah 55:8 when
we read: “…For My thoughts are not your
thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways, says the
Lord…”
If you remember, last week I told you that to
survive in a pagan world we must completely
surrender ourselves to God, but the reality is
that once we surrender to Him, there is
something else that we have to do. What do we
need to do after surrendering to God? This is
the issue and the question that we will be
exploring today. Let’s now turn to the Word of
God.
1 Corinthians 9:24-27
- Do you not know that those who run in a
race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in
such a way that you may obtain it. 25And
everyone who competes for the prize is temperate
in all things. Now they do it to obtain a
perishable crown, but we for an imperishable
crown. 26Therefore I run thus: not
with uncertainty. Thus I fight: not as one who
beats the air. 27But I discipline my
body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I
have preached to others, I myself should become
disqualified.
Today I’m not going to bore you with the
historical details that I explained last week,
but for those who were not present, I will make
a very brief summary. Corinth was a cosmopolitan
city; it had a port and an important commercial
center, and it was one of Greece’s main cities
during Paul’s life. But this city is also
characterized by its idolatry and immorality.
And Paul wrote this epistle to the believers in
that city to offer solutions to the problems
they faced, and to teach them how to live in the
midst of a corrupt society[1]. Why
have I provided you with this summary? I have
made this summary so that we are reminded of the
fact that although much time has passed since
this letter was written, today’s world finds
itself in more or less the same situation. In
other words, although much time has passed,
people are stagnant. Therefore keeping this
very brief summary in mind, let’s now continue
with our study for today.
The first thing we find in these verses is
something that is very interesting. I say this
because here we see that Paul compares believers
to athletes; he compares us to the people
running in a stadium. Look closely at what the
apostle said here when we read: “Do you not
know that those who run in a race all run, but
one receives the prize? Run in such a way that
you may obtain it…” Quite interesting, isn’t
it?
When we meditate on what the apostle is saying
here, it’s not difficult to conclude that what
he said makes sense. Let's analyze this a little
more closely to determine if what I’ve just said
makes sense. How many of you have seen the New
York marathon? The reality is that I'm not a fan
of marathons, but I have seen the advertisements
and the news about this event on the TV. I have
seen thousands of people who join in this great
contest to run 26.2 miles (a little less than
42.2 kilometers) without rest. But what happens
is that these thousands of people don’t sign up
for this contest with the same purpose. Although
there are many that sign up with the intention
of winning the price for first place, they in
fact represent a minority. The reality is that
most of the contestants sign up to participate
in the event just so that they can say that they
ran in the marathon.
And that is exactly why we see that the majority
of these people never reach the finish line;
most of them only make it half way, and others
don’t even make it to the half way mark. Now we
should ask ourselves, why don’t they reach the
finish line, that is to say the end of the
marathon? The main reason is because they
haven’t trained properly, and as all of us know,
training is one of the most important things in
the life of an athlete. Why is training so
important? It’s so important because training
produces endurance. And to run in a marathon
and make it to the finish line, or to take the
first prize, you definitively need endurance,
yet we see that most participants haven’t taken
the time to train. I say this because I'm sure
that if we asked the contestants that never
finished, why couldn’t they finish the marathon?
Or, why didn’t they properly train? 99% of them
would say that it was because they didn’t have
the time to do so. Now I ask: is there any
relationship between the answer that we may get
from the contestants and the believer?
The reality is that there is a direct
relationship. Let’s take a closer look at what
the apostle said to determine if in fact there
is a direct relationship. Here we see that the
apostle said: “…Run in such a way that you
may obtain it…” Within God’s people there
are many just like most of the contestants in a
marathon. There are a large number of people
that begin to lead a Christian life; that start
following the Lord’s teachings with the best
intentions, but unfortunately they never take
the time to properly prepare. And I can tell you
that if we asked them the same questions that we
would ask a contestant that never finishes the
marathon, 99% of these people will always say: I
didn’t have the time.” And that’s exactly why
churches often experience large number of
absences in the services. In other words what we
see is that the enemy with his cunning, tricks
easily entertains people with the things of this
world, and subsequently detours them from God’s
will. Why does he do this?
He does it because he knows quite well that if
he can keep us entertained and deceived, then it
becomes impossible for us to serve God as He
expects and demands. What does God demand of his
people? The answer to this question is easily
found in 1 Peter 1:16
when we read: “…Be holy, for I am holy…”
And I want everyone to closely note that this
doesn’t mean or imply that we have to be
perfect. The reality is that none of us are
perfect, much less when we compare ourselves to
the perfection of our Lord Jesus Christ. And
this is something that is well reflected in
Romans 3:10-12
when we read: “…As it is written: “There is
none righteous, no, not one; 11There
is none who understands; There is none who seeks
after God. 12They have all turned
aside; They have together become unprofitable;
There is none who does good, no, not one...”
So when we talk about being holy, we are not
speaking about perfection, but rather to
persevere to walk in holiness. In other words,
to effectively devote our life to accomplishing
a particular purpose. What is our particular
purpose? Our purpose in life should be to
always please God.
Continuing we read: “…And everyone who
competes for the prize is temperate in all
things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable
crown, but we for an imperishable crown. 26Therefore
I run thus: not with uncertainty. Thus I fight:
not as one who beats the air…” Let me give
you an example of some of the things that often
happen in the life of every believer so that you
better understand the point that I’m attempting
to make with this portion of scriptures.
As I’ve said on many occasions, all of us need
to set aside time for God on a daily basis. So
let's say that we’ve set aside some time to
pray, or meditate on the Word of God. What often
happens in that time that we’ve set aside to
spend with God? What happens is that the enemy
starts to attack. And the fact of the matter is
that he attacks us in such a way that we don’t
even realize that we're being attacked. For
example, we begin to read the Word, or begin to
pray, and the phone rings. By instinct, and what
the vast majority of people do, is that they
stop what they are doing and answer the phone.
It may also very well be that when we’ve decided
to spend some quality time with our Father, an
unexpected visitor will knock on our door. It
may also be that our children will interrupt us
to ask a question, or perhaps just tell us that
there is a great TV show on. It may also be
that our spouse enters the room because she/he
wants to share with us an event that occurred
during the day. The reality is that cunning
attacks are so vast in number that if I was to
stand up here and give you examples of them all,
we would never finish.
As faithful believers, we must realize that
these things that happen to us are not
coincidences, but rather they are our enemy’s
attacks to distract our attention. These are
things that we all must recognize and rebuke in
the name of Jesus. We must recognize that the
enemy doesn’t want us to have that quality time
with the Lord. The enemy doesn’t want us to have
those blessings that are produced when we spend
quality time with God. And that is why here we
see that the apostle said: “…Therefore I run
thus: not with uncertainty. Thus I fight: not as
one who beats the air. 27But I
discipline my body and bring it into subjection…”
Tell the person sitting next to you: we must
fight against the flesh.
We can’t allow the enemy to enter our life
unnoticed. Let’s always bear in mind that our
enemy is very cunning. Look closely as to how
this is something that is very clear for all to
see in Genesis 3:1
when we read: “…Now the serpent was more
cunning than any beast of the field which the
Lord God had made…” If we don’t stop him,
the enemy will enter our life to distract us,
and lead us away from God. This is something we
can’t allow, this is something we have to
rebuke, this is something we must learn to
recognize. None of us are free from these
attacks, none of us are the exception. What I’ve
just said is so true that even Christ was
tempted when He was led by the Spirit into the
wilderness[2]. Why was Christ
tempted? Christ was tempted because the enemy
wanted to destroy God's redemptive work, and he
wants to do the same in our life. But temptation
is something all of us can defeat. How can we
defeat temptation? There are two answers to this
question. Number one; all we have to do is: “…Resist
the devil and he will flee from you…” (James
4:7). But this brings up another
question, how can we resist the devil? The
answer is found on the second answer to our
first question. Number two; to make the devil
flee from our life, and defeat temptation we
must do as we find in
Psalm 119:11 when we read: “…Your word
I have hidden in my heart, That I might not sin
against You…” When we keep God’s Word
within our heart, we will not only recognize the
enemy’s attacks, we will defeat them! Tell the
person sitting next to you: we must keep God’s
Word in our heart.
All, without exemption, will be attacked by the
enemy; however, some will be able to recognize
these attacks. Why will we be able to recognize
the attacks? We will be able to recognize them
because we have taken adequate time to train. In
other words, we’ve heard the Word of God that
tells us: “…See then that you walk
circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, 16redeeming
the time, because the days are evil. 17Therefore
do not be unwise, but understand what the will
of the Lord is…” (Ephesians
5:15-17). We recognize the enemy's
attacks because we: “…understand what the
will of the Lord is…”
This warning is something that we should all
keep in mind. We must be careful because as it
says here, “…the days are evil...” Tell
the person sitting next to you: the days are
evil. And to realize this, all you have to do is
pay attention to what’s happening around us. A
great truth is that the armies of darkness never
stop attacking God’s people; they never rest.
All we have to do is look around us to see the
evidence. And that’s why it is not unusual to
hear about young people whom have grown up in
the gospel that are now lost in drugs, alcohol,
fornication, idolatry, violence. It’s not
unusual to hear about Christian marriages that
have been destroyed by adultery, lust, and
immorality. As I said previously to see evidence
of enemy attacks, all you have to do is open
your eyes. Why do these things happen within
God’s people?
I can assure you that these things are not
happening by coincidence, they are not happening
because they are ordinary and normal things as
the world sees it. They are happening because
oftentimes God’s people have not prepared; God’s
people have not trained to endure to the end.
Why don’t so many prepare and train to endure to
the end? They don’t prepare and train to endure
to the end because in most cases, people are
more concerned and preoccupied with making more
money, or with obtaining more material
possessions than with coming into His presence
to praise, honor, and bless His holy name. In
other words, a large portion of believers are
entertained and deceived by the devil.
In conclusion;
a person who does not takes the time to know
God, who does not takes the time to read and
meditate on His Word, is a person that like the
vast majority of people in a marathon, will
never reach their goal. And what should our goal
be? While we are here on earth our goal should
always be to please God in every aspect of our
life, so that once we leave here we receive the
supreme award. So that we may receive the: “…imperishable
crown…”
All of us here are is in the same marathon.
Everyone here is running towards the goal which
is heaven. But the problem is that not all will
reach the goal, and this is something that
happens because not all of us are taking the
time to train, so that just as an athlete we can
develop our endurance and perseverance. We have
to prepare, we must persevere in holiness, and
strengthen our faith at all times lest it be as
the Apostle Paul said here: “…lest, when I
have preached to others, I myself should become
disqualified…”
We are on track to heaven, our goal is to reach
and remain in the presence of our heavenly
Father. Let’s train properly so that we never
fail Him; let’s train properly so that we don’t
fall half way; let’s always persevere so that we
may receive the supreme prize that Christ died
on the cross to give us. Let’s now return to
the original question of today. What should we
do after we surrender to God? We have to train
properly; we have to develop or build up our
endurance and perseverance in holiness;
therefore: “…Run in such a way that you may
obtain it…”
[1] Wilkinson & Boa Bible Handbook
[2] Mateo 4:1-11; Marcos 1.12-13; Lucas 4.1-13
© Jose R. Hernandez |
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