1 Corinthians 9:24 Know you not that they which run in a race run all, but one receives the prize? So run, that you may obtain.… I. MAKE UP YOUR MIND TO RUN. Decision: This must be settled once for all: "Put my name down, I will run." St. Paul says, "So have I; I therefore so run." Have you? II. PUT YOURSELF IN TRAINING. Discipline: "For even Christ pleased not Himself." III. STRAIN EVERY NERVE. Earnestness: See them, each one alert, waiting for the signal — then, away, each one with desperate eagerness seeking to cover the course. "So run that ye may obtain." Strenuous effort is needed. Look at rowers in a boat-race, or players in a football match. Are we to be put to shame by these? IV. AIM AT THE WINNING-POST. Singleness of mind: Straight for the mark! No step can he afford to take outside the line which leads right to it. V. HIT STRAIGHT AND HARD! Reality: It is no sham-fight. He cannot afford to hit wildly, as one beating the air. Our own besetting sin must be found out. We must learn, what the tempter knows so well, where our weak place is. There we must meet the enemy. VI. NEVER GIVE IN. Persistence: Keep at it to the end. (T. Puddicombe.) Parallel Verses KJV: Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain. |
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