Staying in Training

 DEVOTION

THE 1^ST LETTER TO THE CORINTHIANS

STAYING IN TRAINING

1 Cor 9:24-27

24 Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. 25 Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. 26 Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. 27 No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.

NIV

Although there are instructions to run the race to win the prize, we cannot be confused about the idea that our running is what gains us the prize as Christ already won the prize for us. When we accept Christ into our lives, we have already won the prize of eternal life. However, there is a race that we must run, in the sense of the race of faithfulness. This cannot be done unless we are continually in training. This could be seen as training our bodies not to fall prey to the sinful nature that resides within us. Of course, we exchanged that nature for the nature of Christ, yet that sinful nature does not completely give up and leave us alone, so we still have this war that wages within us. We know Paul had that war and he gave witness to it that war between his sinful nature and the nature of Christ, when he said that which he did not want to do he does, and that which he wants to do, he does not. For us to ignore this war within us would be like an ostrich sticking its head in the sand, pretending something is not there. So, we stay in training and the way we do that is to stay in the word of God. We do not just run around life without a goal, as if to float upon the sea with no destination. We make plans that we think will lead us to retirement. The question is if we make the same plans for our lives in Christ. This training is consent, and we find all we need to train both our bodies and our spirits within the word of God. But we do not simply run around within the word either without a plan for our eternal retirement. We do a systematic search throughout the scriptures learning truths and applying them to our lives. Being a child of God is not a part-time adoption. We are not free to live as though we are not adopted as his child. He has taken us with all our filth and washed us completely in the blood of Jesus, cleansing us of all our sins. He has made us his children and He is our Father. So we stay in training, so we do not get distracted by the ways of the world and forfeit our adoption, which could disqualify us from the prize. Therefore, we beat our bodies, and we train ourselves to be all that God wants us to be. This is not to be confused with works, but it is about our self-control, submitting it to the influence of the Spirit of God who dwells within us. This takes training, and so we stay in training.