> Reflections

12/02/2013 - Athletes of Christ

Christian Life

Running to win:


Although we have a blessed spiritual life, it’s a trap of the devil to think that we don’t need to improve. The Bible says in the book of Philippians 3:12, “Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus” – This shows us that we need to be careful in order not to become complacent.

There have been a lot of athletes that put on great performances, but became disheartened over simple things, such as over-stretched muscles, physical problems or even lack of training. These things discouraged them from new challenges.

If we pay attention to 1Cor 9:24, we will understand that the good athlete must “RUN” in order to reach the prize. The path of our faith must no be interrupted by external things that will dishearten us, and we also need to know that even when we are prepared for the marathon, we can never be sure of victory during the competition. While the event is in progress, we need to focus on competing. I believe that the enemy tries to steal our prize by putting up false finish-lines in our paths.

 

We can’t run with indecision:

 

One final question: Do you think some people run just to run? Not seeking the prize? This is an intriguing question. When we get to the bottom of things, many people don’t have material or spiritual goals in life. They are just running for the sake of running. Even in competitions, we see that some, even though they are following the rules, are only running to have fun and don’t care if they will finish the race, much less obtain a good ranking. In the same chapter, verse 26, Apostle Paul, based on his experience of Christian life, tells us that we can’t run without clear goals; we need to run in order to win!

Therefore, the Bible teaches us what we need to do to be a good athlete, telling those who want to compete that they must abstain from certain things. We might think, “Could it be talking about our attitudes, our thoughts, or our perseverance?”

I believe that just like a good athlete must think about eating right, training, practicing, and resting, athletes of Christ need to do the same things, because there is no difference between them.

 

“Spiritual success isn’t what you reach; it’s having the perseverance to reach it.”

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