Are you ready to be a champion?

Run to win!

Lowder continues: Is pursuing God and his mission for your life your overwhelming desire? Are you willing to be dedicated to him through suffering and the uncertain wilderness experiences of life that are sure to come? Are you making a daily commitment to nurture your relationship with him through study, prayer and the personal evangelism of others? Ask God to turn your heart toward him today. Be assured he will give you the strength to make those daily small, yet significant, decisions that bring you into deeper fellowship. Lasting determination is best gained through God changing you inwardly and not through shooting star, New Year’s type resolutions.

^{(photo by belindah-Thank You!/flickr)}

Run to win!

Secondly, Paul explains we need to remember the reward. In verse 25 he tells us the victors receive an incorruptible crown. This was Paul’s way of saying that God always rewards those who pursue him and obey his commands. In Matthew 7:11, Jesus parallels an earthly father with a heavenly one. He says that in the same way, a Dad is pleased to give gifts to his children, so God is eager to give better to us. Olympians and Super Bowl champions know there are potential rewards at the end of the journey but the fact remains that these medals and accolades will not last forever. Paul reminds us the awards of God are different and will sustain eternity.

^{(photo by Mar Gregory Karotemprel./wikimedia)}