The prize is already ours

I keep running hard toward the finish line to get the prize that is mine because God has called me through Christ Jesus to life up there in heaven. (Philippians 3:14 ERV)

I read this passage again this morning in the Easy to Read version and I saw a couple of things that really hadn't dawned on me before. While not every translation puts the original intent perfectly, there is some validity to just looking at the passage from a different perspective once in a while as it can bring things to light you may not have seen in quite that perspective before! Here's what I saw:

- The prize is already ours! We are running a race that is already pre-determined to have us as winners - to gain the prize, we just keep running. I think there are a whole lot of us that have the idea we run to attain - but we really run because it is already ours.

- We are called, so we should live up to our calling! Through Christ Jesus, we are called. In him, we have a new purpose and destiny. We are destined to live life, not just here on this earth, but in heaven. We are called to life up there - so maybe we need to adjust our focus a little higher at times - because too "low" of a focus may limit what we see!

- There is a finish line! At times, we might think this will never end, especially when the journey gets really, really hard. We don't want it to last too much longer, but there is a pre-determined finish line already clearly marked out by our loving heavenly Father. We just need to keep making progress toward the finish line.

- We don't have to run at full-out speed all the time, but we are asked to keep running! There is such a thing as pacing yourself for the journey ahead - to run too fast, too quickly may make it harder to actually finish. We need to speed up when there is energy, slow down to regroup energy, and then pick it up again when that energy is renewed. God is always going to provide for our renewal, but we need to be running in order to be in a position for those "rest stations" along the way.

The rest of the story is also helpful in order to understand why we run and what we are running toward:

12 I don’t mean that I am exactly what God wants me to be. (My thoughts:  I don't think any of us is there yet, but we can move together toward that goal!) I have not yet reached that goal (My thoughts: Nor have you). But I continue trying to reach it and make it mine (My thoughts: We don't choose the prize - it is chosen for us - but we do run in such a way that we "make it ours"). That’s what Christ Jesus wants me to do. It is the reason he made me his. (My thoughts: We don't belong to ourselves - we are bought with a price and now we belong to him.) 13 Brothers and sisters, I know that I still have a long way to go. But there is one thing I do: I forget what is in the past and try as hard as I can to reach the goal before me. (My thoughts: You can help me focus on the finish line - but you must be there alongside me in order to do that. You're running this with me - not against me! We are all winners! We all receive the prize!) 

Just sayin!

Goal oriented living

None of us is exactly what God wants us to be, are we?  We all struggle with just a little bit of the same things - we may just call them different names. Regardless of what we call the things which keep us from being entirely what God wants us to be, we haven't reached our goal.  What is that "goal"?  Many times we go through life without ever asking that question - where am I headed, why is it important for me to get there, and what will it take for me to realize the goal?  For a long time, I saved money, but had no idea how to invest it, or how much I'd actually need to save in order to reach some goals, such as paying off the house mortgage or being able to retire from a full-time job.  It took me a while to realize without a goal, I'd just continue to be half-hearted in my saving.  It took a plan.  God has plans for our lives and he is quite willing to share those plans with us - to know where we are headed, why it is important for us to get there, and what it will take for us to take the steps toward that goal.  All we have to do is ask!

I don’t mean that I am exactly what God wants me to be. I have not yet reached that goal. But I continue trying to reach it and make it mine. That’s what Christ Jesus wants me to do. It is the reason he made me his. Brothers and sisters, I know that I still have a long way to go. But there is one thing I do: I forget what is in the past and try as hard as I can to reach the goal before me. I keep running hard toward the finish line to get the prize that is mine because God has called me through Christ Jesus to life up there in heaven. All of us who have grown to be spiritually mature should think this way too. And if there is any of this that you don’t agree with, God will make it clear to you. But we should continue following the truth we already have. (Philippians 3:12-16 ERV)

Realizing the goals Christ has for our lives requires some things from us, just like any other goals we set in life.  We have a part to play and we must be faithful in playing that part or we will just be aimless in our walk.

- We must forget what is in the past.  We ALL have a past.  None of us is immune to the memories of the past, although we may try to block out some of those more painful and disappointing ones.  The past has a way of weighing us down, like an anchor holding a ship firmly in place.  Until we let go of whatever it is which links us to where we once were - how we once lived - we won't be able to move fully into where it is God desires us to live today.

- We have to exhibit a tenacity toward achieving our goal.  No one achieves something they desire just because it "happens" that way.  We achieve because we put forth some effort on our part.  There have been a couple of times in life when I lost weight without really trying, but as soon as the physical condition was "fixed" within my body which was causing me to shed the weight, the weight went back on.  I may have been at my desired weight, but I didn't get there because of anything I did!  To stay there would have required some effort on my part, but I was so glad to be over my illness each time that I just went back to the same way of eating and guess what happened to my weight.  You got it!  It was right back on me!  It doesn't take much from us at times to get us headed in the right direction - but it does take some tenacity to stick with it once we are finally moving in that direction!

- We have to realize we are called to run toward our goal.  It isn't just because we "want" it that we are moving toward it - it is an actual calling to achieve it! When we begin to see the goal as something we were appointed to actually achieve, we might just face the goal a little differently.  Most of the time, we set goals for ourselves which WE have to do all the work to achieve in our lives. When we realize the goal of finishing this race toward the development of solid Christian character is something Christ has actually appointed us to achieve, not in our own efforts, but because we partner with him to run this race to the finish, we see the race a little differently.  We begin to run because we know we will win, not because we "hope" to win.  

- We run according the truth we presently have - not the truth we think we must attain in order to run "better" or "harder".  We have been given truth and all that is required of us is to walk in the truth we have already been given.  We might think we need more truth, but if we are faithful to use what we already have, God will begin to add to the truth.  It is like when we begin to use the muscle and energy we already possess to do whatever we can to begin an exercise program for our physical body.  We may start out pretty lame in the realm of endurance and distance, but in time, we find the one block gets to be two, the two becomes four, and before long, we are doing a mile without even straining.  Why?  We used what we had been given and then allowed the rest to "develop" within us as we were faithful in the small stuff.  This is the principle of how God helps us realize goals in our lives - using the little we have been given to accomplish the much he has prepared for us!  Just sayin!