Running with Purpose
by Dr. Paul Chappell
“Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain. And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible. I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air:”
1 Corinthians 9:24–26
Frank Shorter’s gift for running became apparent at a young age. He was a standout college athlete, winning NCAA and US National Titles in distance races while still in school. He won repeatedly at distances varying from the five thousand meters up to the marathon. At the 1972 Olympics in Munich, Shorter focused on the grueling twenty-six miles of the marathon. By tradition, the Olympic marathon concludes inside the Olympic stadium. Shorter was preceded into the arena by a German named Norbert Sudhaus—not a fellow competitor, but an impostor who had not run the whole race. Though Shorter crossed the finish line second, he won the gold medal because he had completed the entire race according to the rules of the event.
There are no prizes for those who do not follow the way God has laid out for us in Scripture. Yet often we are tempted to take matters into our own hands and do things our way rather than God’s way. Satan tempted Jesus to do exactly that: “And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread” (Matthew 4:3). Jesus refused, because even though the act was not sinful in itself, it would still have been wrong to do because it was not according to God’s design for His life. Ever since the Garden of Eden, people have been falling for the temptation to decide for themselves what is acceptable rather than trusting and obeying what God has said.
Today’s Growth Principle:
Avoid the “shortcuts” that tempt you to break the rules in order to win the race.

The post first appeared on Koa Sinag Ministry.