A Runner’s Target
A runner never stops running! It’s what they train for. It’s what they live for. They have a goal, their strategy is clear, and they aim for the target and run to obtain the prize that is set before them.
Quitting is not an option.
A runner understands that he is not to look back. He knows that looking back in a race is the thing that could slow him down and hamper his chance of winning.
Very early on it is clear to him that if you are spending time and energy looking at where you have been rather than where you are going, you loose focus, valuable time and you loose sight of the mark or the finish line.
So it is, the Christian race is very much like that of an athlete. We have a high calling and a specific mark that we must consistently and continuously press our way forward to win the supreme and heavenly prize to which God in Christ Jesus is calling us to.
However long it takes to get you to your destination, don’t look back! Paul speaks of these very things in the bible. He says,
“Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” ~ Philippians 3:13-14 ESV
Here Paul exhorts us to stay in the race and keep pressing towards our goals, whatever you and I have established them to be.
Life will not always be a bed of roses, and even if it is, don’t be naive, there will be thorns and thistles along the way. These are the things that makes the rose so beautiful and its fragrace so irresistable!
I am sure you understand just as much as I do that some people will stop at nothing to get in the way of you reaching to the mark of the high calling. They will attempt to discourage you.
Yet still, you must keep on pressing your way through.
You’ve got to forget the things of the past that is getting in the way of you pushing and pressing towards your future. You fail at something, it doesn’t mean that you do not get up and try again.
As a matter of fact, be wise and bold enough to rise again in the face of adversity. Let your enemy know that their plan did not work and you are still standing!
Make this also your target by continually surrounding yourself with positive thinkers, dreamers and visionaries. Be among those who train and exercise their faith to produce the best results.
Stay close to those who bring out the best in you, not those who seek to ignite the flames of stress in you. And never give in to defeat, but endure to the end!
The scripture also says, ‘run with patience, [endurance, persistence] the race set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith…for consider him that endured..lest you be wearied and faint in your minds (Hebrews 12:1-3)
How badly do you want the prize? The prize that is obtained through Christ!
It is not about the speed of your progress, but your consistency while you go through the process.
Endurance by its very nature implies the need for opposition, but the promise that Jesus gave is this, “He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.” ~ Revelation 21:7
So run towards the Promise!
Stay close to the truth of God’s Word!
In the end, you will wear the Crown!
YOUR TURN TO TALK IT OVER..
- Was this post helpful to you?
- What is your main take away from it?
- Do you always find it easy to run the Christian race?
- If not, what are some of the most difficult challenges that you face that get in the way of you doing so?
photo: Candida.Performa flickr cc
Kingdom Ambassadors Empowerment Network 