PRAY: Lord Jesus, help me run my race today.
READ: 1 Corinthians 9:24–27
MEDITATE:
Paul concludes this chapter on Christian rights and freedom with a sports illustration. Athletic games were very popular in Paul’s time, and his readers would identify with his images of the runner and boxer. Athletes are focused on one thing: winning the prize. To achieve that goal, they follow a training program that requires discipline and sacrifice.
Anyone who wants to excel as an athlete, dancer, scholar, musician, or in any other field knows that discipline and sacrifice are part of the package. You have to be willing to devote your time and energy to your chosen endeavor and give up anything that would divert you from your goal. When the prize is valuable enough to you, you are willing to make the necessary sacrifices to win it.
Paul was willing to sacrifice his privileges, comfort, security, and safety to follow Christ. He was devoted to “spiritual conditioning” (v. 26–27) to serve the Lord, fight against sin, and tell others about the love of God in Christ.
Questions and Application:
- What does this passage say?
- What does this passage mean?
- Are there disciplines that God is calling you to practice?
- What things are you willing to sacrifice for the prize? Lift up to God in prayer those things that you are not yet willing to sacrifice.
PRAY: O God, the protector of all who trust in you, without whom nothing is strong, nothing is holy: Increase and multiply upon us your mercy; that, with you as our ruler and guide, we may so pass through things temporal, that we lose not the things eternal; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. —Proper 12