September 29, 2020 – Racing to Win

What I Read Today;

1 Corinthians 9; Matthew 25; Isaiah 33; Psalm 84; Ezra 9; Leviticus 4

1 Corinthians 9:24-27, “Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the price? 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 someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air. No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.” NIV

With my recent health issues my doctor recommended that I might want to get off my fat rear end and start exercising again. Now not that long ago I was in pretty good shape. But over the past five years between stress at work and health issues I fell off the running wagon.

So after I got out of the hospital, I started going out in the morning and exercising. Now it’s really frustrating when you know that you used to finish 10k and 1/2 marathons and now you can barely run 50 yards. But when you get out of shape, you have to start over and it takes time to regain your strength and stamina.

Guess what?

The same thing happens when we get away from God’s Word. We slowly lose that muscle memory our faith needs to fight off Satan. When we come back, we have to build things back up. Sometimes it’s frustrating. Relearning what we should have memorized. But we have to put in the work, if we want the results. We have to commit to training our minds, hearts and souls in the nuances of God’s Word if we want to achieve the prize of maintaining our relationship with Jesus.