Ah, an afternoon time in which to write! Thank You, Father. May our time together be profitable for me and others!
1 Corinthians 9:24-27 (<<click here to read the passage)
One of my favorite things as a youngster was to get the comics out of the Sunday paper and then plop on the floor and read them all! There have been many excellent cartoonists, and one of my favorites was Bill Keane (1922 – 2011), most notable for his work on the newspaper comic The Family Circus, which began in 1960.
Yesterday, reading through the ninth chapter of 1 Corinthians, the last verses of the chapter grabbed my attention. And then today, as I read through them again, Billy from The Family Circus came to mind. His “dotted line” adventures were loved by many. The one pictured above was published in 1993.
In this one, Billy had run on an errand for his mother. He forgot what he was sent after, and with five minutes until they closed (the store was right across the street from home), he meandered all over the place before he finally got there. He was a good kid, but he was definitely a kid!
In these verses, the Apostle Paul compares our spiritual journey to a runner running a race. And the runner is not just running for entertainment or simply for the joy of running but the runner is running to win! And in no way is it implied that 3rd or even 2nd place will do…no! Getting the 1st place prize is their goal!
In his writing, Paul uses words like training, exercises self-control, and strictly discipline. He’s in it to win it!
When you think of serving Christ, when you think of living out your life in devoted service to Him, do those words come to mind? Even after several minutes of pondering? Some out there may think that way, but most of us have a “Billy” mindset when it comes to living our lives for Christ.
“Oh, look, that’s interesting! Ooo, what’s that? Let me give that a shot! What’s over there? I’m sorry, Lord, what was I supposed to be doing?”
I’m sure some are content just to sit back and wait for Christ’s return. They don’t want to be asked to do anything…just let them know what He gets here, OK?
But, really, spiritually run to receive the prize? I’m not overly disciplined in my everyday life; how am I even supposed to do that spiritually? Self-control? Have you ever seen me around a box of donuts or an open bag of chips?
We – and we, includes me – need to get serious about our walk with Christ. To be all we can for Him, we need to have the definite goal of strictly disciplining ourselves, bringing our sin-leaning nature into submission to our Savior. Then, we will see what God can do with us! And I can guarantee that He can accomplish so much more than we are now!
Nov 9th, 2023, Thurs, 12:38 pm
