It didn’t happen quite like that yesterday. I’ve an important presentation in less than three weeks and spent most of the afternoon working on it. This was mentally taxing, which added to the normal Monday fatigue. I was so tired last night that I feared sleep would not come, but thankfully it did. This morning, my devotional guide serves me an encouraging verse. Paul writes:
I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 3:14)The goal refers to the marker at the end of a race. Runners intently fix their eyes on this goal. To look one side or another, or worse, backwards, will slow them down, even cause them to stumble or fall. I need to keep my eyes on that goal, not on my current situation, not on my to-do list, not on next week’s meetings, or the even the presentation at the end of the month.
My goal is ultimately to be like Jesus Christ. In this life, I want to think, talk and act like Him. Sometimes it seems impossible. I fall far short. My legs get wobbly and I lose heart. My body wants to quit because I am exhausted. My spirit slumps and I’m tempted to look away from that ridiculously lofty goal and “get real” — aim for something that is more attainable.
However, this is God’s goal for me too. While I will not reach it in this life, it will happen. One day, when I cross that finish line, my marker will be standing there in plain sight. Then I will not only reach my goal, but also receive my prize.
Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. (1 John 3:2).The goal or marker I run toward is Jesus. The prize is my reward for victory. While the upward call speaks of my call from God to a complete salvation, and while this prize could refer to the rewards offered at the judgment seat of Christ, the ultimate reward is the Lord Himself, and that I will at last be like Him.
Note that Paul does not say that he is pressing on for the call of God but rather for the prize of that call. He is not working for his salvation but rather for a reward. He also says in 1 Corinthians 9:24, “Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it.”
Run indeed. Don’t sit here. Press on. Don’t even think about complaining. That is not what Jesus would do, and because He lives in me, I don’t need to do it either.
Yet Jesus also took time away from the pressures and joys of ministry to be with His Father. When He was tired, He slept. When He needed a break, He went into the mountains to pray and be alone with God. Obviously, He knew this important truth:
Have you not known? Have you not heard? The everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, neither faints nor is weary. His understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the weak, and to those who have no might He increases strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall, but those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint. (Isaiah 40:28-31)I’m encouraged by important progress made yesterday in my work on that presentation. I’m encouraged by these words to press on. However, I’m also encouraged by a good night of rest. I do have an awesome God and an awesome goal. He calls me to keep my eyes on Him; He is my future reward. Yet He also is my daily portion, the source of all I need to keep going. I need to keep plugged in, moving forward, and remembering that waiting is also a vital part of running.
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