Epic Winning

So, this blog post is brought to you by Matt Chandler, who put these questions into my mind during a Bible study that we do here every Sunday night at Meadowbrook Fellowship, Leamington, Ontario. The passage is Philippians 3:11-16.

Let me explain this a bit, so you can be up to speed on my thought process through this. Paul is speaking to the churches in Philippi, which he had planted a number of years before. He is saying here, in this passage, that even though we have obtained justification, we have not fully obtained sanctification. Paul is trying to instill in us a sense of longing and yearning for God, a striving to know Him more. Verse 11 says, "That by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead."

So, what are the means necessary? And am I taking them? Crazy questions, and not easily answered. If I want to pray more, am i surrounding myself with things that make me want to pray more? Or with people who are strong in that area and can help me pray more? What steps am I taking to strive, to toil, to yearn for Christ? And if I am not, should that not be a warning to me? I dare say it should! If we are not toiling to know Christ more on a day to day basis, we've lost. If we do everything else in this world, from digging a ditch to skydiving to being a professional athlete, but we don't know Him more at the end of the day, we have gained nothing. Bill Hybels, in his book "Holy Discontent", describes this as a moment where you just can't stand it anymore (for all you older folks, your Popeye moment). You need to do something about it. You NEED to know God more.

What is it that needs to be done in order that you know God on a more personal level each day? When you know what it is, dive headlong into it. Yeah, it might feel awkward at some points, but God will get you through it. For me, it is prayer. I want to be stronger in this area. But really, if I am honest with myself, I have said this for years. The question is, what am I going to do about it, and when. To know God more through prayer, I need to be around people who are the prayers. I need to ask God to instill this in me, a deep desire to communicate with Him through prayer. You, the reader, can also pray for that for me. I have a friend (you know who you are) who is an amazing prayer. This person is so personal with God, they always refer to God as their Father. They know how to talk to God and be His child. I am not saying that perfect language or anything is ever necessary, but I would love to have a prayer life where I hear from God all the time when I pray. I would like to have a prayer life where I can't wait to pray. Now, I know God is the Father. But do I ever really think of Him as MY Father? Am I really that personal with God that I feel like I could crawl into His lap like I used to with my earthly father when I was a baby? I wish. But that is what I need to do, is get close to those people.

Skipping ahead a bit to verse 13 and 14, Paul says, "But one thing I do, forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead. I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Jesus Christ." Now what Paul is not saying is that we forget the past. We do not forget the past. However, we do forget and leave behind anything and everything that can rob us of our affections for Christ. This could be good or bad things. There can be an area in your life where you were struggling, and finally you (really, Christ in you), overcame this struggle. And in this, you still find pride, though it might have been ages ago. Forget whatever it is that robs your affections for Christ.

I love Paul because he knows what being an athlete really is. I mean, I have done P90X and am currently doing Insanity, but Paul was a Roman citizen. These guys, back in the day, wrestled each other, ran huge races, and were athletes to the core. If you have read any of Paul's letters, you would quickly figure this out because he talks a lot about running a race and training the body. This is where it ties together.

In 1 Corinthians 9:24-27, Paul explains that all of the runners in the race are in it to win it. Nobody runs in a race and thinks, "Man, I hope I come in last place." If people thought like that, they wouldn't be in a race. It is hard work being in a race. What does running the race in a way to win it look like? Well, like I said, it looks like you leave behind all of the things that rob you of your affections for Christ, and you press on to know Christ more. This is how the race is won. However, like Paul says in the passage, we don't race for something silly like a wreath. We race for eternal life.

We can't just sit back and watch the race happen. We need to be runners in it, always striving, toiling, running towards God. I believe this is where, a lot of times we, as Christians fail. We hear a great message and say, "That was an amazing message." But we never do anything about it! I think it's past time that instead of being spectators in the race of faith, we step up, train hard, and win this race. And this won't come easy. Intimacy with Christ will not fall into your lap. You need to work for it, to want it, to strive for it.

So - let's run this race and win it, to glorify God.