Tuesday, May 24, 2022
A Judgment of Faithfulness
“Don’t you realize that in a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize? So run to win!” (1 Corinthians 9:24 NLT).
I have five grandkids, so I’ve noticed the trend in youth sports today is to not keep score. This is to stress the idea that there are no winners or losers. Everyone is a winner. That sounds good, but it isn’t true in life.
And it isn’t true in the Bible, either. In the Bible there are winners, and there are losers. On more than one occasion, Scripture compares the Christian life to running a race. For instance, the apostle Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 9:24, “Don’t you realize that in a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize? So run to win!” (NLT).
If you’re competing in the Olympics, you go for the gold. And if you’re living as a Christian, you should go for the gold as well. Run to win. That doesn’t mean we’re competing with our fellow believers. Our competition, if you will, is the world, flesh, and Devil.
Again, Paul wrote, “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad” (2 Corinthians 5:10 NKJV).
In the original language, the word “bad” isn’t referring to evil but to worthlessness. God will ask about our faithfulness on that final day and what we’ve done with the opportunities that He set before us.
If we were faithful, we will hear Him say, “Well done, good and faithful servant,” not “Well done, good and successful servant.”
God will hold me accountable for what He has called me to do, and He will hold you accountable for what He has called you to do. So, we need to be faithful and do the best we can do.
God wants you to be a winner in the race of life.
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