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When you peel back all the layers and get down to the core of your identity, if you’re in Christ, there will be some components that drive you in this race we call life. Three of those are major, and must be present if you want to remain on track to win. There are no ifs, ands, and buts about it; the first must be your relationship with Heavenly Father through the Lord Jesus Christ. The second should be your own spiritual development through the power of the Holy Spirit, and the third is most likely the desires that you feel will extend to you a meaningful existence. When we get past all the personality characteristics, get beyond the flaws and shortcomings, and come face to face with our core being, these are the things that motivate us to keep pressing toward the mark. So the question we must ask ourselves is whether we’ve pressed hard enough this year to see the rewards, and what will we do in the New Year to press with greater faith and determination.
God, through the teachings of the Apostle Paul, often reminds us of the race that He has set before us, and the prize that awaits us as well. Heavenly Father reminds us so often because He knows that we can be easily distracted with the cares of this world. He sees how we run, and understands we’re on the grind, but we become so boggled down with running that we forget why we’re in the race. In 1Corinthians 9:24 (NLT), God tells us, “Don’t you realize that in a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize? So run to win!” God has given us the mindset requirement here. In the thick of competition, seasoned athletes do not have negative thoughts of losing the race. They believe they’re going to win. They pay no attention to their competitors to the left or right, and actually visualize themselves holding the trophy. How do you see yourself?
This question is uber important because you see, it only takes a second for an athlete to look away and lose the race. For us this means that if we take our eyes off God for one second, the enemy can use it to get us off track. We take our eyes off God when we forget the priorities that are etched in our destinies. It’s God first all the way! James 4:8(NLT) tells us, “Come close to God, and God will come close to you.” The Spirit of God is in us through Jesus Christ, so God isn’t talking about proximity here. He’s telling us to come close to Him in our minds, hearts, and souls.
1John 5:6 (NLT) says, “And Jesus Christ was revealed as God’s Son by his baptism in water and by shedding his blood on the cross—not by water only, but by water and blood. And the Spirit, who is truth, confirms it with his testimony.” This verse tells us one of the extraordinary occupations of the indwelling Holy Spirit. He confirms the truth in our inner being through his testimony. Romans 10:17 tells us that faith comes by hearing the Word of God. When you and I read, study, hear, and meditate on the Word with the intention and desire to ingest and digest it, the Spirit will open up revelation to us. We desperately need this revelation to run our races. When the Word is received into our hearts, the Spirit testifies of it internally. Because of his testimony, we have a knowing. We know that the Word we’ve heard is true. Without our diligent effort to read, study, hear, and meditate on the Word, there can be no testimony; therefore, we will miss opportunities to increase in faith, because faith will not come unless the Word of God is heard and believed. This is why studying God’s Word is the way to show ourselves approved before Him, because as we study, a supernatural deposit is made.
Growing in our relationship with God by coming close to Him in our minds, hearts, and souls is achieved through studying His Word and earnest prayer. As spiritual beings in Christ, we’re wired in such a way that this must be our first priority. If it isn’t, make no mistake, our circumstances will bear it out.
You must have confidence that God has equipped you to win! He would not tell us we can win, set a race before us, and not provide everything we need to get the job done. You are equipped to run masterfully, but you must not get the priority part mixed up. God and His love can never be second place, and sometimes we allow this to happen subconsciously. Take the Holiday Season for instance, many will run up their credit card bills paying for gifts they can’t afford. Our kids feel slighted when they don’t receive what they want, and most people are forgetting to be as thankful to Heavenly Father as we should for His overwhelming generosity. Things like this will overshadow our efforts to grow in the Spirit, and all of us can stand to do better.
Within His divine design, God has woven a reset button for all of us. Every 365 days we have the privilege to test ourselves and examine how we’re doing in the race He’s laid before us. It’s time to assess whether we’re valuing the purpose for which we’ve been called appropriately, and it’s a really good time to also reevaluate whether we’re running our race with priorities in the right order. We must be eternally grateful that we’re still in this race we call life! It’s an awesome thing, and we should be thrilled by the prospect of running stronger, longer, and with greater endurance. As we see what the Lord holds for us in 2018, let’s run to win!■
Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.
“Run to Win!” written by Reverend Fran Mack, edited by Kim Times for Sundie Morning Sistas ©2017. All rights reserved. All done to the glory of God through Jesus Christ, our Lord! SMS is dedicated to inspiring and encouraging Christian Women through the Word of God.
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