Like the dedicated athletes who recently competed in the Olympics, believers in Jesus run the race of the Christian life with the objective…the goal…of winning the prize:  A crown that will be eternal…crossing the finish line of Heaven!  And so, like those athletes, we must go into strict training for the purpose of godliness in order to run that race well and cross that finish line as a victor for the sake of Christ!  Train…and run…with purpose!

1 Corinthians 9:23-27

23 I do all things for the sake of the gospel, so that I may become a fellow partaker of it. 24 Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win. 25 Everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control in all things. They then do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. 26 Therefore I run in such a way, as not without aim; I box in such a way, as not beating the air; 27 but I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that, after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified.

1 Timothy 4:7=8

Discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness; 8 for bodily discipline is only of little profit, but godliness is profitable for all things, since it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.

“As we remind ourselves of the gospel, a sense of gratitude towards God and a desire to please Him should grow in our hearts. Our affections should be for God and not sin. When our affections, our desires, are more for God than sin, we will exercise self-control, resisting the desires of the flesh, which should give us assurance and motivation to keep running the race.” ~ Casey Lewis

The Lord bless you and keep you…

Pastor Dave