“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.”
1 Corinthians 9:24

Whenever Paul talks about running “the race” it has always hit a special note with me. After training and running races for 11 years straight I feel I should share what this verse and others about “the race” mean to an avid runner.

We all know what it means to “run in such a way as to get the prize.” It’s simple. Be the first one to cross the finish line, right? I would like to argue that it is not so simple. It’s not about one, all out, everything you got at the time, sprint to the line. Have you ever known someone who woke up one day and said “I think I want to run a marathon”? I’m talking about those people who just want to sign up and run one the next day, just to say they did it. Very few of those people end up finishing the race, and there has never been any that have won the race.

So we can see that if you even want to finish the race, you are going to have to do SOME training. But Paul doesn’t say to run to finish the race. He says to run to win the race. So now we must turn our eyes from those 2-to-3-days-a-week runners to the best in the world. The people who compete to see who is the best. These people train for hours every day, most training twice almost every day. They eat what is best for them, they get their sleep, they are motivated, disciplined, and focused. They know what they want and how to get it, and that is what they are striving for every single day.

I believe these people are a picture, a metaphor of how we should treat the race that Paul is talking about. The race of the Christian life. We need to be focused, motivated, and disciplined every single day so that we may run this race to the best of our ability. We can not rely on suddenly sprinting the whole thing, totally out of shape and not able to compete. I know “Run in such a way…” sounds like an in-the-moment type statement, but trust me, it involves a lot of time and training.

If you are having doubts about how great the reward for such time and training is, let me tell you how awesome eternal life with our God is. Have you ever watched the finish of any running race in the Olympics, especially the mid to long distance races? If you look at the faces of those crossing the finish line from 2nd place on, you will see the obvious signs of pain and agony, and yet these people just ran world record times. But if you look at the face of the first place finisher, there is so much joy, happiness, and excitement in winning the race that they can’t help but smile, jump, shout, and express themselves for a few moments before letting the exhaustion get to them. In that same way, we will express such feelings after crossing the finish line, but we will never feel the pain, agony and exhaustion of our training and running after we cross.

Train people! Train hard!

You, then, why do you judge your brother? Or why do you look down on your brother? For we will all stand before God’s judgment seat. It is written:” ‘As surely as I live,’ says the Lord, ‘every knee will bow before me; every tongue will confess to God.’ ” So then, each of us will give an account of himself to God.

?Romans 14:10-12

There are several places in God’s word where it says we will stand before God and give account, and every time I read one of them it really hits me hard and makes me think. I imagine myself standing there before God. What do I say? I try to think of the things I could give for an account, things that I have done in my life that might help my cause. I was a Bible study leader! Ummm, I lead worship at youth group, and at my church! Uhh, I’ve been on mission trips in Romania, India, and across the U.S.! Ummmmm, I helped my friends with their problems! I read my Bible, I prayed, I talked to strangers about Jesus, I handed out tracks, I did my homework, I’ve never been drunk, I’ve never done drugs! These have got to be getting me somewhere…..right?

But then I start to think about all the things that are negatives, all the sins, all the pride, all the mistakes. Even if I can somehow manage to name more good things then bad, it still rings in the back of my mind, “for all have sinned and fallen short…”, “…the wages of sin is death…”. I know that even one bad thing is enough. So how can I possibly stand before the throne and give account? How can I possibly show my face, how can I even attempt to convince a holy God that I am worthy to enter?

Then it finally hit me, after years of these verses making me feel so down. There is no way I can give an account that will justify me. If I could justify myself, then what use is the cross? That’s why Christ died; it’s so elementary. He gives account for me. He is my ticket in; he is my connection; he has wiped away all those bad things that I was thinking of. Because of him I can stand before a holy God, blameless, and without fault.

Sometimes as Christians, we often wonder what the heck God really wants from us. We may wonder, “Should I be perfect?” or “Since I can’t be completely perfect, how do I react to the sin in or around me?”.

Well today is your lucky day because I (meaning God, actually) have the answer for you, and it’s in the Bible (surprise!).

Enter, Ezekiel:

“Now the glory of the God of Israel had gone up from the cherub on which it rested to the threshold of the house. And he called to the man clothed in linen, who had the writing case at his waist. And the LORD said to him, “Pass through the city, through Jerusalem, and put a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh and groan over all the abominations that are committed in it.” And to the others he said in my hearing, “Pass through the city after him, and strike. Your eye shall not spare, and you shall show no pity. Kill old men outright, young men and maidens, little children and women, but touch no one on whom is the mark. And begin at my sanctuary.” So they began with the elders who were before the house.”

- Ezekiel 9:3-6

So here God is essentially cleansing Israel of all the people who delight in the abominations that are going on. The way He’s doing it, is by sending someone through who is marking all those who “sigh and groan over all the abominations”. The Hebrew word used in the Old Testament for sigh and groan is ‘anach’ (transliterated of course), and it means to sigh, groan (in pain or grief), or gasp. This is a picture for us, and how we are to react to sin around us. This is how God separates His people from the rest.

So, sigh and groan people, sigh and groan.

One of the biggest problems that we face in our lives as Christians is pride. I know that I face this problem all the time. There are many times when I look back at how I just acted or what I just said and I think “wow, that was prideful, I need to work on that.” Fortunately we have God’s word to help us be more humble. I’ve been thinking recently about a certain part of scripture.

When Jesus is on the cross, in Luke it talks about two criminals who were also hanging on crucifixes next to Christ. This is what it says about the two criminals:

“One of the criminals who were hanged there was hurling abuse at Him, saying, ‘Are You not the Christ? Save Yourself and us!’”

Then it says:

“But the other answered, and rebuking him said, ‘Do you not even fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed are suffering justly, for we are receiving what we deserve for our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong. And he was saying, ‘Jesus, remember me when You come in Your kingdom!’”

This gives us such a stark contrast between the attitude that Jesus desires and that which He doesn’t. One thing we have to keep in mind is that both of these men are criminals, both of them have done horrible things, and just like the second says, they are getting what they justly deserve. They are the worst sinners around. Here’s where the difference is:

The first man is obviously not convinced this is what he deserves. He believes he should have a free ticket out. This translations says he was “hurling abuse” at Jesus. The Greek word here is blasfemeo, which essentially means “to speak impiously or irreverently of”. This man has no care for the divinity or sinlessness and perfection that is in Christ. He is only thinking of himself.

The second man is quite interesting. He doesn’t express such interest in avoiding the fate he deserves. Instead he first rebukes the other criminal for speaking so irreverently of Jesus. “Do you not fear God?” We know that the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom (Proverbs 9:10). This criminal truly had the wisdom to know who Christ is, and that Jesus did not deserve what he was getting. Then instead of trying to justify his way out of his penalty, he also has the wisdom to proclaim that he is getting what he deserves. Really, the criminal is contrasting between the perfection and pureness of Christ, and his sinfulness. How could he ever bring himself to ask Christ to save him from such just suffering? Instead he is so humbled that all he says is “Jesus, remember me when You come into Your Kingdom.” How did he know?? He was so sure of who Christ was, and that He’ll be reigning.

Too often we find ourselves in the place of the first criminal. We can’t believe that we’re suffering at all, and we act as if we don’t deserve what we are getting. We want Christ to just get us out of there, we can be so irreverent. Instead we really need to take a step back and examine our sinfulness and God’s holiness, and we really need to humble ourselves to Him.

I was reading through Ezekiel when I came across the multiple chapters where the visions of the new temple are given. These chapters are detailed with many explanations on how the temple is to be built, how big, how many rooms, which way it will face, and many more facts. But then I came across the chapter that explains the river flowing from the temple. Here are some excerpts:

“Then he led me back to the bank of the river. When I arrived there, I saw a great number of trees on each side of the river. He said to me, “This water flows toward the eastern region and goes down into the Arabah, where it enters the Sea. When it empties into the Sea, the water there becomes fresh. Swarms of living creatures will live wherever the river flows. There will be large numbers of fish, because this water flows there and makes the salt water fresh; so where the river flows everything will live. Fishermen will stand along the shore; from En Gedi to En Eglaim there will be places for spreading nets. The fish will be of many kinds—like the fish of the Great Sea. But the swamps and marshes will not become fresh; they will be left for salt. Fruit trees of all kinds will grow on both banks of the river. Their leaves will not wither, nor will their fruit fail. Every month they will bear, because the water from the sanctuary flows to them. Their fruit will serve for food and their leaves for healing.” - Ezekiel 47:7-12

The river flowing from the temple of God is giving life to everything: the trees on the bank, the fish in the sea, and all creatures where the river flows. I love the last two sentences, “Every month they will bear, because the water from the sanctuary flows to them. Their fruit will serve for food and their leaves for healing.” If this is how the river flowing from God’s temple does all this, and our bodies are God’s temple, then shouldn’t there be a river flowing from us that gives life?

Our words and actions should be a flowing river that gives life to everything around us. They should give life through God’s word, and healing. That’s something that I always need help with, and the best way to do that it stay in God’s word. That’s where the river of life comes from.