In the middle of Paul’s exhortation to the church of Corinth, he is comparing the life of a Christian to the athlete that runs in a race to compete to win. The attitude of the follower of Christ has to be just like the serious athlete who gives his all to win the race he is competing in. In the previous verse we learn that we run the race of life to receive that incorruptible crown of glory of the victorious Christian living. Here we can see two important attitudes we need to have along the way: certainty and seriousness.
When the runner enters the race he cannot know if he will run the race. He may be the favorite, but even then a lot can happen in the race that may hinder him from achieving victory. He cannot be certain of success, but if he is to be successful he has to have the mindset that he will win. He needs to be so convinced in his abilities and have such faith in his training that he knows he can win. If he starts the event hoping to win and thinking “well, maybe I may win,” he has already lost the race. Successful athletes are confident almost to the point of arrogance. Likewise, the Christian has to enter and run the competition fully convinced that he is going to come out on top in the end. There has to be certainty in all he does, knowing fully that victory is his and nothing can prevent him from making it to the finish line. We call this certainty in our daily walk with God faith. Faith is a gift from God. It is not something we conjure up to give ourselves false hope, but rather it is certainty in a true and faithful God who always keeps His promises. It does not depend on our ability to perform, but on God’s ability to keep His Word. Here lies the difference between the athlete and the Christian. The athlete can never know the outcome of the race, but we do know the outcome of our walk of faith. We know that Christ has won the victory on Calvary and has beaten death and sin, thus allowing us to be victorious as long as we cling to Him. It is often said that we do not fight for victory, but from victory. Therefore we can run with absolute certainty and do not have to question the outcome. As a matter of fact it is sin to wonder wether God will be able to keep us safely through this life and we will make it to heaven. The letter to the Ephesians tells us that we have His guarantee, His Holy Spirit living in us, that He will see us through to the end. To doubt would be to call God a liar, or at the very least incapable. That is not the God who created the universe. He is the Truth and He is all power. He says what He means and He means what He says. He is God.
Further we see that Paul calls us to be serious in our walk. He tells us not be like the shadow boxer who fights an imaginary opponent. The fighter has two very different styles and mindsets when he is going through the motions of fighting and when he is actually in the ring facing an adversary. In the first scenario, he is fighting a fake, unreal opponent that he is only imagining in his mind. He is free to play around, dance around, and can easily think of himself higher and better than he really is. But when he is in the ring with an actual enemy, he has to be real and properly assess the situation if he wants to not get beaten. He has to keep his strength, follow a strategy, not let his guard down, watch every movement of the opponent, and be in the fight with all his being to be victorious. One little slip, one moment of distraction could spell the end of the fight. He needs to take his fight seriously and cannot show off or pretend. How often do we Christians think too highly of ourselves or our abilities, only to find out that when we are faced with an actual opponent, we are not prepared to fight. We think we are all that and then God allows a trial into our lives and we fall apart. It is essential that we take this Christian walk seriously and realize that we are in a fight for our lives and the lives of those around us. We need to be diligent and prepared. Most of all we need to cling to the unending source of our strength, Jesus Christ. We bring nothing to the fight, but the willingness to be used by God. He will then enter our lives and fight the battles for us. And since He has already won the victory, we know the end result. The fight is ours to lose and God’s to win. The choice is ours.
I want to be completely surrendered to God’s will for my life, so that I can walk and live in His strength, not my own. I want to have total faith in God’s abilities and be serious about my Christian walk. Therefore today during my prayer time I will spend at least half an hour on my knees before God, surrendering all areas of my life to Him.
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