Keep Your Eyes On The Prize - Day 306 Month 11-1 Week 42-5
Keep Your Eyes On The Prize
Today's Reading (Bible in 1 year)
2 Chronicles 28:16-29:19, Job 24, Amos 9:11-15, Hebrews 12:1-17
“Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith…” (Hebrews 12:1-2 NASB1995)
I mentioned, many posts ago, that I was a long distance runner in my teens. I didn't become one because it was a lifelong dream. I discovered I was a good runner when we did some running in my grade 7 physical education class. From that experience, I decided I was going to be a long distance runner and eventually make it to the Olympics. Whenever track and field came around at school, I would try out for the mile run and any other long distance event I could. In high school, I joined the cross country team and competed in meets throughout the region.
One particular race stands out in my memory. We were competing against other high schools in the area, and on the bus ride to the meet I started talking to a girl who had a cast on her foot. I asked her, “You're doing cross country with that cast on?” She said yes. She knew she would finish well behind everyone else, but she wanted to keep her training going while recovering from an ankle injury. The important word here was “training.” I was lazy. I hardly trained and was very out of shape. When the race began, I managed to stay with the lead pack for the first three quarters of a mile, but then I started falling behind. I got slower and slower, constantly fighting the side stitches that kept coming back. My endurance was poor, and the final blow came when the girl with the cast passed me. I knew it was my own fault. I had the ambition to run, but I wasn't willing to put in the training.
The life of following Jesus is much the same. We read in 2 Timothy 2:15 Paul reminding Timothy to “be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth.” Paul was encouraging Timothy to be diligent in understanding and teaching God's truth. I believe there is something here for us as well. We need to be diligent in learning and understanding what God has revealed to us through Scripture. We can't afford to become complacent in our faith. If we stop learning, asking questions, praying and spending time with Jesus, we risk becoming stagnant. I know that from my own experience. For much of my life, I didn't spend a lot of time learning about Jesus, and my faith had very little room to grow. Now that I spend more time studying and learning about Him, He has become more real to me. What we learn shouldn't stay with us. It should change how we live, how we love our neighbours and how we share what we have learned with others.
The writer of Hebrews likens following Jesus to running a race. To compete in a race, we need to prepare ourselves, get rid of anything that might slow us down and keep our eyes on the finish line. The same is true in following Jesus. We need to keep learning about Him, spending time in prayer, loving our neighbours and sharing what we have learned with others. But most importantly, we need to keep our eyes fixed on Jesus. He is not simply the prize at the end of the race. He is the One we are following every step of the way. As we continue to follow Him, we grow in our faith and become more like Him. I don't believe we will ever achieve that completely on this earth, but it is certainly worth striving for.
There is something important I don't want anyone to misunderstand. All this striving to become more like Jesus is not how we earn salvation. We cannot work hard enough, do enough good deeds or become enough like Jesus to earn our place in His kingdom. Salvation comes through Jesus, not through our performance. We follow Him because we have put our faith in Him, not to earn His acceptance.
As I often say, if you have questions, contact me. I'd be happy to talk about what it means to follow Jesus. If even one person turns to Him, these 306 days of posts are worth it.
Have a great day!
Steve
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