Run the Good Race

 I believe Paul liked the games of Rome, or as we know them, the Olympics.  He made several references to these games of sport in his epistles.  One instance he wrote of was in Philippians 3:13-14 where he said “Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.”  In this he said he hasn’t considered himself to have attained or arrived yet.  He hasn’t reached his full potential.  Paul was never satisfied.  There was always someone else to reach with the gospel; someone else to help, something else he could do.  

He goes on to say, there is one thing I can boast of though, there is one thing I have arrived at, there is one thing I have learned: forgetting those things which are behind me.  He has forgotten those things which would hold him down, hold him back and hinder his walk with the Lord.  He counts them as loss or doesn’t dwell on them any longer.  In Biblical terms, forgetting doesn’t mean not remembering; but letting things in the past influence the way we think or act now.  Joseph didn’t forget his brothers selling him into slavery, but he chose not to let that influence him to act rashly toward them when they came for food. Instead of looking back, Paul looked forward in his race.  He goes on to say, “I press toward the mark." This pictures a runner at the finish line as he strains with all his might to reach the finish ahead of his competitors.  He runs with intensity in the race set before him.  In order to run the Christian race, there are four things you must remember.

 We are to continually look to Jesus as our goal.  Just because you entered the race, that’s not the goal. Many people who are saved think just because they are saved, that is all there is.  That is not all there is; that is only the beginning.  Our goal is Jesus Christ.  We are to seek to be like Him in all we do and think. We are to see Him as our example in our Christian lives.  And, we are to get our encouragement from Him.  Hebrews 12:2 says, “Looking unto Jesus the Author and finisher of our faith." 

Then we are to create a sustainable pace.  We are to lay aside the weights and sins which so easily beset us. Heb.12:1 We know what sin looks like. Satan bombards us daily with temptations to sin.  But, what about these weights?  They are those things we have no business carrying.  Would you start a race with weights strapped to your legs?  I didn’t think so.  Neither should we be trying to run a Christian race with these weights.  But, what are they?  They are burdens which we are not supposed to carry.  Ps.55:22 says, “Cast thy burden upon the Lord and He shall sustain thee."  We are not to carry cares.  First Peter 5:7 states, “Casting all your care upon Him; for He careth for you."  I know He will care for me because He said He would.  If I live tomorrow, He will still care for me even then. Thirdly, we are not to carry worries. John 14:1 “Let not your heart be troubled, ye believe in God believe also in me."   Worry is sin and when you worry you are actually saying, “Lord, I don’t trust you”.

Next, our race sometimes is difficult. Sometimes you have to run when you are tired, or hurt, and even when you are eating the other fellow’s dust.  You can’t come in first all the time.  Sometimes you will lose some races.  But we can’t let that hinder us from getting up and running again.  No body said it would be easy.  We must keep on running; there is no place to stop.

Last, we are to focus on our own race. Paul tells Timothy to take heed to thine own self.  Don’t be looking around at others.  They have their race, you have yours.  When Jesus told Peter what his fate was in John 21, Peter, looking around at John said, “But what about him?”  Jesus said don’t worry about him, just look to your own self.  We are too busy looking around at other people and saying, “What about them?”  Forget them!  Let them run their race and let us run our race.

Then there are some times when we do need a little rest.  When Jesus sent out the disciples two by two they ministered to many people in Mark 6.  When they came back, Jesus said to them, “Let us come apart for awhile”.  Sometimes we need to come apart before we come apart, if you understand what I mean. 

How are you running your race?  Are you looking to Jesus as your goal?  Are you going at a sustainable pace?  I know it gets hard sometimes, but He is there to help and encourage you.  May God bless you as you continue to run the race He has for you.