It's Hard to Run the Race

Running is hard work. Running and running and running is especially hard. I like so much what Paul says in Philippians 1:12. He says, "But I want you to know, brethren, that the things which happened to me have actually turned out for the furtherance of the gospel..." Nothing - not even being in prison - slowed Paul down as he went about spreading the Gospel. Each new adventure brought new opportunities for his witness to others. If you think you've had it tough, read about Paul. In II Corinthians 12:23-29 he gives an account (prompted, yet reluctantly to boast of his experiences as a servant of Jesus Christ) of all that he had been through in his lifetime and that he was still alive and well and serving the Lord! Paul's experiences and examples encourage us to be bolder in our witness for Jesus Christ.

Listen to this from the New King James Version, "For though I am free from all men, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win the more; and to the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might win Jews; to those who are under the law, as under the law, that I might win those who are under the law; to those who are without law, as without law (not being without law toward God, but under law toward Christ), that I might win those who are without law; to the weak I became as weak that I might win the weak, I have become all things to all men, that I might by all means save some. Now this I do for the gospel's sake, that I may be partaker of it with you. (I Corinthians 9:19-23). Paul would go to any length - without violating Biblical morality - to enter the world of others and lead them to salvation.

Read these verses again from the Message. And run, run, run, and run. Don't stop. It's all worthwhile. It's all for Jesus. Hard work? Yes! Now go after it. You must follow your dreams - they are what God has placed in you and called you to do!