ON YOUR MARK! GET SET! GO!!

On Thanksgiving morning, my husband's family has a race.  It's called the "Waugh Turkey Trot".  There is a 1 mile Fun Run for the kids and then a 5K (3.1 mile) race for the adults (and some of the kids and teens run it, too).  Some of the women walk the 5K instead of running it.

Each year a trophy is given for the winner of the big race and prizes are given to the younger ones.  Because many in the family are seasoned runners, the event is competitive, but in a fun way.  It's always fun to see who wins the race.

Paul used running and races quite a bit in his writings.  He referred to the fact that everyone competes in a race, but there is only one winner.  He tells the Corinthians (and it written in God's Word for us, too) to run in such a way as to get the prize - and that prize is a crown of life that will last forever in eternity.

Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. 

1 Corinthians 9:24-25

Running in a race takes training.  It takes a plan.  It will not just happen.  In the same way, our Christian life is a process.  Becoming a Christian is just one step of that process.  It doesn't stop there, but continues until our race is complete.  Our training comes from reading and studying the Bible, by praying, and by living a Christian life using Jesus as our examle.  And, our training is only complete when we die. 

When the time does come and our training is complete, as Christians we should be able to say as Paul did in 2 Timothy:

For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time has come for my departure. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.

2 Timothy 4:6-7