The Wind at Your Back

“Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ.”

Philippians 3:12-14

 

 

Suppose you were watching one of the Olympic track and field events, one of the races where several runners are all lined up in different lanes.

As the starting gun goes off the runners all take off.

But as you continue to watch a funny thing unfolds before your eyes.

One of the runners begins making faces and childish gestures at his competitor running alongside in an adjacent lane.

The fellow athlete pays no attention but keeps his focus straight ahead on the finish line.

Which one finishes well?

Pretty easy to answer that question isn’t it?

And yet as Christians we can be guilty of running our race in the same way.

When we treat the race as a competition we can allow envy, jealousy and our own personal interests to impede our progress toward the goal of becoming like Christ.

We forget there is a prize for all who complete the race well and perform as if my goal is to be soundly beat everyone else on the field.

We each have a race to run.

There is a prize – not for a single winner – but for each who finishes well.

As a matter of fact my best effort while running this race will happen as I encourage and build up fellow runners along the way.

What happens when this is what I sow?

I will reap it back into my life.

Take the time today to encourage a fellow believer along the way.

You will find it will be like having the wind at your back as you run!