JULY 16, 1 Corinthians 9:24, 25

Usain Bolt is called the fastest man in the world. He is a Jamaican sprinter and specialises in the 100-metre and 200-metre races. He also holds the world records for both of these races: 9.58 seconds and 19.19 seconds respectively. That’s amazingly fast! IF you don’t believe how fast that is.

At dinnertime, Kwong Lim spoke about Bolt and remarked, “Like Bolt, I want to be a great athlete.”

“To be a great athlete you have to practise very hard, every day.” said Dad.

“Sure, it’s like playing the piano,” said his sister Bee Hong. “Sometimes I get so tired of practising. But now I like it better because I can play hard and long.”

“It takes hard work to be good in anything,” said Mother, “ and even Christians need to practice!”

Mum got it right; Christians need to practise to win the race. The Bible tells us to be sure to win our race. What race is this? It is our race to heaven.

What a good athlete must do is strict training. Does this mean that he must have a good physical shape? Yes. Bolt is very strong and muscular. He trains to win an earthly prize, but Christians train for much more: a heavenly prize. For Christians, running the race has to do with striving to live their lives according to God’s will and for His glory.

Training involves taking good care of our bodies and doing what God wants. Training to do what God wants is helping others, going to church, studying and reading the Bible, praying and saying no to sin. Isn’t this a lot for a Christian to do? Yes it is and it’d be difficult for anyone of us to do it on our own.

If we are close to God, the Holy Spirit would keep us fit spiritually so we may be strong Christians who can win our race to be faithful to Jesus.

Thought: Are you a disciplined “runner” for God?

Prayer: Heavenly Father, please help me to press on in my spiritual run. Its not easy, and I pray You’d be merciful to teach me to stay close to You. This is my prayer in Jesus’ name I pray, amen.