“Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win.”
Paul describes the difference between being a participant and a fan. We all have things in our lives we’ve invested our heart in… A sport, a hobby, career, politics. Something that easily captures our full attention.
The differences in me watching football and baseball are many. I am at best a passive observer of baseball, because frankly I don’t know much about the sport. But football is different. I have spent much of my life playing and coaching the game. This “familiarity” produces a passion that draws me into a game at a much deeper level. A football game can result in me yelling at the television, and stomping around in anger, or jumping in joy... I am passionately motivated because I have deemed the sport valuable and have invested time and energy into it.
That being said, it convicts me that I don’t stand up and yell at the preacher during the Sunday morning services (in my head of course) or leap for joy at a great point in the sermon… Instead, at times I listen to the sermon, sing, and worship as though I was watching a soccer game… It’s nice and all, but I’m not really invested.
This passage advises me to be so devoted to the gospel that everything else diminishes. It implies that after a 40-minute sermon I should feel like I do after a 4-hour football game… wishing there was one more quarter. I should be so passionate that every day is “training” for me to be a better disciple.
Am I running in the pack, or running to win? Am I just checking a box with my prayer and Bible studies or am I a committed player, devoted to the mission?
The difference is night and day, and it is not a minor issue in God’s eyes. Revelation says it makes God sick for me to nonchalantly participate. The Cross demands passion. God prefers I be either hot or cold… be a player, not a fan… Run to win, or don’t run at all.
“If Christ be anything he must be everything. O rest not till love and faith in Jesus be the master passions of your soul!” - Charles Spurgeon
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