[This reflection by Martin Shorey was published in the weekly news bulletin of Horley Baptist Church, 27/Aug/2023]
The other day I went for a health check – not that there is anything wrong (at least I hope not), but its just a way for me to keep an eye on my health, ensuring that I’m maintaining a good physical condition, and spotting early any potential problems. Why? Because I want to function well for as long as I possibly can.
This reminds me of some verses from Paul’s letter to the church in Corinth, a city in Ancient Greece known for the Isthmian Games, an early rival to the Olympics …
All athletes are disciplined in their training. They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize. So I run with purpose in every step.
1 Corinthians 9:25-26 [NLT]
Paul would have seen the athletes preparing for these games, being disciplined, pushing themselves harder and harder, because they had a prize they wanted to win. Paul encourages the church in Corinth to have a similar mindset as these athletes – are they willing to give up the so called freedom they have as pagans, in order to gain the prize of eternal life offered to them through Jesus? Sacrifices in this life are more than worth it for what they will ultimately gain.
How about you? If you were to have a spiritual health check how would you fare? Do you need to be more disciplined? Do you need to give up some things that just aren’t good for you, as tempting as they might be? Why? Because God has a purpose for your life, a race for you to run, and a prize for you to gain.
So how well are you running your race – are you in training, becoming disciplined, and taking each step with purpose?
Resources:
Bible quotations: Unless otherwise specified, quotations are taken from the resources of Bible Gateway or Bible Hub, in accordance with the licencing conditions outlined on our Site Policies page.
Bible dates:
Where appropriate, the dates given for Biblical events are based on the Bible Timeline resource
and are subject to the constraints defined on the corresponding webpage.
Horley Baptist Church onlineHBC main site
Confidential prayer link
Link to Recent Reflections
.
Link to Index of Bible Passages
Last week’s reflection: Can you ‘Sabbath’ AND Serve in Church? by Dazz Jones
Contributed by Martin Shorey; © Martin Shorey