09/10/2023
Have you prepared yourself for the challenges of a life of faith ahead? Are you ready for the trials that lie before you, or are you totally out of spiritual shape? Be as Jesus was... ready for the moment of God's calling... to do our Father’s will, and to be prepared to join with the Holy Spirit as you run the race of your life.
“Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from what is dishonorable, he will be a vessel for honorable use, set apart as holy, useful to the master of the house, ready for every good work.”
2 Timothy 2:21 ESV
Are we prepared for honorable use? Have we been in training like an athlete training to run a great race?
“Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.”
1 Corinthians 9:24-27 ESV
Olympian runners prepare most of their lives to run a single race. They realize, all too well, that once it has been run, it is in the past and there is no hope of ever running it again. If by chance they injure themselves and can't complete it; well, that opportunity is gone forever. Our lives and faith are the same... when it is done and we stand before our Lord in judgement, the race will have been run and all that is left is for us to face the results. Will we stand with a wreath upon our head, or go down in defeat with our heads hung low?
My wife used to run half marathons, and to prepare herself she trained day after day. She ran, and watched her diet to insure it was healthy, and that her meals provided the nourishment she would need. The training was difficult and occasionally she would be hurting and need rehabilitation or encouragement, but when the day of the race came, she was ready, and I cheered her on as she crossed the finish line. The training was hard, but the victory sweet.
“So I went to the angel and told him to give me the little scroll. And he said to me, "Take and eat it; it will make your stomach bitter, but in your mouth it will be sweet as honey."”
Revelation 10:9 ESV
In our spiritual lives we need to practice every day, and consume those spiritual things that will nourish us and give us strength for the race ahead. We shouldn’t be lax or wooed by the worldly naysayers who long to see us fail. These slackers can't stand the presence of those who prepare themselves. They are reminded of their own failings. Are we preparing as we should for what lies ahead of us as true believers?
“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”
Romans 12:2 ESV
Prayer:
Father, I thank you for the spiritual preparation you provide for me as I strengthen myself for the race before me. I thank you for the pain of training, and the suffering and injury that strengthens my resolve. Lord, bolster my determination in those times when I am lax in my prayers or remiss in the study of your Word. Bring me to my prayer chair with tears of supplication, and let me see your Son Jesus as I pray to you in His name. Jesus help me to prepare myself for every task our Father places before me. Then, as I run, hold my feet firm and steady. Let no stone trip me, and place a wreath upon my head when the race is done. My earthly desire is to finish before all the others, but in you there is no second place, and my will must yield itself completely to yours.
All of us are meant to compete within ourselves, and each of us who completes this heavenly race will receive a champion's share of the prize. Father, I pray that you will hear me shouting in the moment of victory as I yell out your name before all the heavenly host. I pray that you will hear my voice calling you Glorious, Blessed, Righteous, and Holy, just as all those who run this race do when experiencing this amazing moment. This is your glory in victory, and I am but the victor’s chalice you hold up in celebration… let me be blessed to overflowing with heavenly treasure while all of heaven calls out to you “Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!”
“And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all around and within, and day and night they never cease to say, “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!””
Revelation 4:8 ESV
“And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying, “To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!””
Revelation 5:13 ESV
Rich Forbes