Running the race

“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
Several times in the New Testament, Paul likens the Christian life to a race (see Acts 20:24, 1 Cor. 9:24-27, Gal. 2:2, Gal. 5:7, 2 Tim. 4:7, Heb. 12:1*). That is, it requires training and discipline. A colleague of mine is a runner. It affects his whole life – what time he gets up in the morning (early), what he eats, what he looks like. It’s not a matter of something he does, it’s something that he is. I will go running occasionally to keep fit, but I am not a runner. He is a runner; it’s part of his identity.
Similarly with the Christian life. Being a Christian should be our identity, it shouldn’t just be something that we do occasionally. Do people around us know we are a Christian by watching our conduct, just as we can tell someone who is a marathon runner by their physique?
In a race, there is only one prize. But in the Christian life, there are rewards available to all of us. It’s up to us whether we run in a way that is worthy of receiving them. Are we ‘running’ whole-heartedly? Are we committed to the ‘race’? If so, then we will receive that reward.

*Authorship of Hebrews is a hotly discussed topic.