Daily Reading: 1 Corinthians 8-9
Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. (1 Corinthians 9.24)
Devotional Thought: I love prizes! I want to receive the prize that Paul wrote about in 1 Corinthians 9. Christ-likeness. When we get that prize, we will receive an eternal crown! Let’s take the counsel of Paul, so we can do our part in developing Christ-likeness:
Run! Sitting requires little attention. Walking somewhat more. Running requires focus and exertion and determination. This is so true in our Christian life. We need to run the right direction and give careful attention so we don’t fall.
Compete! Not against each other, but with ourselves. In my quest to be like Jesus, I want to climb a little higher, go a little deeper, reach a little farther... I can’t afford to be satisfied with the status quo.
Fight! Our flesh will rise up against us in the quest to be like Jesus. It is so much easier to stay in bed than to get up and pray. It is so much less trouble to distract ourselves and numb our minds with television than to focus on God’s Word and submit to its authority. We must fight the tendency to go the easy way.
Beat! Here is where we see the purposeful intent of Christian discipline. We don’t beat the air. We have a target; we follow a plan. The entire "body" of life is subjected to this one thing: to walk with and like Jesus.
Enslave! We are not to be mastered by our bodies, but rather we are to master our bodies. We cannot develop a Christ-like character if we allow our physical appetites to dictate what we do and who we are.
Preach! When we give testimony to following Christ, then we develop an inner necessity to display Christ-likeness. We will not all preach, but we must all stand ready to give the reason for the hope within us.
Prayer: Oh God, give me grace today to grow in Christ: to attain the prize and to obtain the crown! "I have one deep supreme desire - that I may be like Jesus. To this I fervently aspire - that I may be like Jesus." Amen. [Thomas Chisholm]
Psalm of the Day: Psalm 109:26-31
26 Help me, LORD my God; save me according to your unfailing love.
27 Let them know that it is your hand, that you, LORD, have done it.
28 While they curse, may you bless; may those who attack me be put to shame, but may your servant rejoice.
29 May my accusers be clothed with disgrace and wrapped in shame as in a cloak.
30 With my mouth I will greatly extol the LORD; in the great throng of worshipers I will praise him.
31 For he stands at the right hand of the needy, to save their lives from those who would condemn them.
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