This week we looked at 1st Corinthians 9:24-26 which talks about running the race set before us. The Scripture tells us the “prize” we are running for is not perishable, but eternal, “…a crown that will not fade.”
Many of you know I love golf. I love to play golf and I love to watch golf. Like so many others, I have been keenly interested in the Master’s Tournament the last several days, golf’s most prestigious contest. Certainly, all the men in the tournament had their eyes on the prize, and the coveted Green Jacket, but there was only one winner, Scottie Scheffler. This 25-year-old took 43 days from the start of the season to move into the number 1 spot in the world, and 57 days from the start to win the Master’s Contest. No doubt his victory represented years of focus and endurance, qualities that will help us too, to attain the prize, the crown, that will never fade away. What were some of the things Scottie Scheffler had to go through in the 57 days it took him to attain his prize? Did he experience exhaustion, discouragement, doubt? Probably these and many other emotions.
During this Holy Week, our minds are drawn to the story we may have heard many times before, to consider with fresh eyes how our Lord must have suffered. What did he experience in the days leading up to the cross? What did he endure for “the joy set before Him?” He experienced betrayal with a kiss, denial of his identity by his followers, and the shear horror and agony of a cruel death on a cross. And why did he do this? Why did he endure all this? What was the “joy set before him?” It was you and it was me. Because of his great mercy and love for us, while we were yet sinners, he died for us, and because He lives, we also will live. (Romans 5:8, John 14:19)
So let us run the race, with focus, with endurance, with passion, for the prize that will not fade away.
Pastor Russ Harbin