FINISHING YOUR RACE
1 Corinthians 9:24 Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain.
Philippians 3:13-14 Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,
[14] I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
Acts 20:24 But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God.
Many years ago when I was just a child, I heard a preacher say in a message, “it’s not how you start as a Christian…it’s how you FINISH!” The Holy Spirit has used that time and time again in my life when I have been discouraged or when I have stumbled in my race with our Lord. When you were born into this world, you started on this journey of life. Assuming that you are saved, when you born again spiritually, that very moment you were placed on God’s course for your life; YOUR RACE! My friend, God has a will, a plan, and a purpose for you and a race that only you can run. I want to encourage you today, if you have been on the sidelines, get back in the race God has designed for you. Maybe you have been injured/hurt in your race for Jesus, or just tired and weary and needed to rest. If we are not careful, these times can turn into us dropping out of our race or just watching others from the sidelines.
I don’t want to have any regrets as I get closer to the finish line. When my hands are aged, and my face is worn and my eyes are weak from the passing years, I want Jesus to be pleased with the way I have ran the race HE gave me. Oh that the Lord would rekindle that fire in your soul and not allow you to quit on HIM and what HE has asked you to do. Purpose within yourself today that you will NOT be a quitter! If there have been some things in your past that are weighing you down or holding you back, my friend, you need to receive Paul’s instruction and forget those things and “PRESS toward the mark for the prize”.
Make the commitment today to be a faithful servant all the days you have left. Finish your race FAITHFUL, HUMBLE, AND PLEASING to our Lord. HE is so worthy! Live each day to serve HIM. It’s my prayer today that your prayer would be, “Here am I; send me. Oh Lord, keep the prize before me and fuel a greater passion within me to make every day count for eternity. Father, keep me upon the ancient path of Your will and steady my hand upon the plow until the day You call me home. Make my life a living sacrifice of praise unto my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.”
Bro. Lawrence Longworth
Isaiah 61:1 “the opening of the prison to them that are bound:”
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