Running to Win

UV 4199/10000 Running to Win Do you not know that in a race all the runners run ( their very best to win), but only one receives the prize? Run ( your race) in such a way that you may seize the prize and make it yours! I Corinthians 9 v 25 Against the backdrop of the just concluded Tokyo Olympics 2020, this uni-verse takes on new significance. God does not any man to be a loser. He wants us to win, each of us. Each of us has a distinctive race that we are running, a separate track. The manner in which we run our lives is what enables us to either win or lose. To win the Olympic gold in the javelin event, the first time for an Indian athlete, 23 year old Neeraj Chopra, an army junior commissioned officer, had to give his heart and soul. He disciplined himself to practice intensely over several years, cutting out from his life distractions or anything that could affect his performance in the throw event. He had a specific goal- to win the event, to throw the farthest that he is ever capable of in each attempt he made. He did his very best and pumping up his motivation just before his throw he threw 87.58 meters on his second out of six throws. The other athletes including the current world champion threw more than a meter short of this. To do our best in our race, we need to run with a clear focus on our goal of winning. We need to discipline our spirit, minds, souls, bodies which includes habits, tongue, thoughts, actions and reactions. We need to conform to the image of God, the image of Christ in us. Every winning athlete in the Olympics has a lot of team support from competent and experienced international coaches, physicians, physiotherapists, psychologists, fellow athletes, governmental authorities and even the whole nation he represents. However, at the end of the day, he alone can run his race and no one else can run it for him. In our “life race”, we have the support of the Almighty and we can constantly appropriate grace, wisdom and power from the Lord in whichever pursuit we are engaged in. Paul exhorts us to give our best emulating the Olympic athletes who discipline themselves and sacrifice a lot, even suffering many injuries as did Neeraj Chopra with his throwing arm a few months ago requiring surgery. Paul says that they subject themselves to such discipline and training in order to win a prize that results in temporal victory, ephemeral glory for themselves and their nations while we, spiritual athletes, compete for an unfading, eternal prize- eternal life and eternal glory or greatness. Unlike the prize winning athlete who runs alone and has to face defeat alone and triumph in a large and swelling crowd, the spiritual or life athlete has Jesus running along side as our life coach and the Holy Spirit running behind as and Encourager, Comforter, Enabler. In our life race, we also have the support of fellow believers through their sincere and fervent prayers, the encouragement of mentors and the power released by regularly consuming the word of God. We may fall at times but each time, we are to rise and run again, focusing our eyes on the Author and Finisher of our race- Jesus who is our Forerunner who successfully ran His race and is now seated at the right hand of the Father, watching over every step we take, every breath we breathe, all our waking and sleeping moments. We do not run with fear of failure but in the overflowing confidence of faith, with abundant hope and filled with joy and the eager anticipation of receiving the prize from Jesus.