Sunday Sermon: Press towards the mark for the prize
Know ye not that they, which run in a race, run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain. – I Corinthians 9:24.
We can be sure that whatever comes our way, God is present and acting on our behalf. To be like Jesus Christ is the mark we press toward, but to be with Him eternally is the prize.
If you do not feel as close to God as you once did, make no mistake about which one of you has moved.
I came across a copy of a document found on the body of a Confederate soldier during the Civil War. I tread: “I asked God for strength that I might achieve. I was left weak that I might achieve. I was left weak that I might learn humbly to obey. I asked for power that I might lead and win the praise of men. I was given weakness that I might feel the need for God. I asked for help that I might do greater things. I got nothing that I asked for, but everything that I hoped for. I am among all men most richly blessed.”
Life is full of surprises. You ask God for what you think you want, and He gives you what you need. To be like Christ is the goal. Before us is Paul the apostle, a warrior in the cause of Jesus Christ. Make no mistake about it, he earned his earthy battle scars.
Listen to his litany of suffering: Stoned and left for dead at Lystra, three times beaten with rods in one city, beaten enough to make angels gasp, escaped in a basket over a city wall. Yet, with triumphant faith, Paul boldly proclaims, “I will press toward the mark for the prize!”
If two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father, which is in heaven. – Jesus, in Matthew 18:19.
