2020 Daily Devotion - Day 109

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By now, we have figured out we are not running a sprint, but rather we are running a marathon. The challenges we have been facing continue to be with us. Maybe the challenges come in a different form, but they are still there. As a result, we can grow tired and weary. This is why it is essential to know that God never grows weary. He never becomes exhausted. And as a result, we can keep going. Because of God’s faithfulness, we can learn to be marathon runners. It will require discipline, grit, tenacity, and especially trust. As we trust God’s faithfulness, we can take the next step. This is what the Apostle Paul discovered and why he wrote these words in I Corinthians 9:24-27. He speaks of winning the “prize”. The “prize” is not heaven or eternal life, because this can never be earned. Eternal life comes only through trusting in Jesus as Savior and Lord. Paul is speaking of the “prize” as such things as spiritual maturity. The “prize” can be the vital strength and endurance we are learning. The “prize” can be the greater trust we have in the God who sustains us and who keeps His word.

1 Corinthians 9:24-27 ESV
Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.

Pray with me:
Heavenly Father, in the past, life was more like a sprint, but now it is a marathon. However, because of Your grace and strength in our lives, we can be marathon runners. Help us to be marathon runners and to never give up, because You never give up. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
 
Yours because of Him,
Pastor John R. Steward
Senior Pastor
Mount of Olives Church
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