Run The Race

Image via Wikipedia

I am definitely not a runner. I never have been. I guess I'm just not built for it. Yet I have spent many hours watching elite athletes run races of varying distances.

Some runners choose to run very short distances. They are out of the running blocks like a shot and they never slow down until after they have crossed the finish line.

Other racers choose to run long distances such as marathons. These runners take off at a moderate pace and continually monitor their watches and each checkpoints to determine if they are on pace or off to finish well.

Whether short distances or long, there is one thing that each race has in common. They strain to cross the finish line in victory.

Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. Philippians 3:12-14

As believers, God has laid out a course for each of us to pursue. This course includes many checkpoints along the way. When is the last time that you stopped and checked your spiritual progress?

Where are you spiritually - right now?

Have you even left the starting blocks? Do you know Jesus as your Lord and Savior? If so, you are on your way.

Are you studying God's Word? Do you know more about His Word today than you did last week, last month, last year?

Do you spend time each day in prayer, just talking with the Lord? Have you gone beyond treating Him like a genie in a bottle to really seeking His face?

Have you learned to Worship and Praise Him? I'm not talking about just for what He has done for you, but for who you know Him to be?

Are you striving to look more like Jesus every day? When others look at you who do they see? Do they see you or do they see Jesus living in you?

How about in the areas of holiness, righteousness & selflessness? Are you pressing toward the goal?

Let me encourage you today to leave yesterday in the past. Take steps today that will move you one step closer to the goal. One step closer to the prize. One step closer to the believer that God has called you to be.

There's no time for us to be spectators. God has called us to make a difference for His Kingdom in our homes, our neighborhoods, our communities and even our world.

One day we will cross that finish line and find ourselves in His very presence. Keep on striving, keep on straining to cross that finish line in victory.