Winning the prize

“I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 3:14
This verse follows hot on the heels of one of my favourite verses, Phil. 3:13 – “But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead...”. Here Paul uses a word picture that we find in several of his epistles: he likens the Christian life to a runner in a race. This isn’t to say that the Christian life is a race, that we are competing against one another. But our attitude towards life as a Christian should be like a runner preparing for a race: we should be dedicated, keep our eye on the finishing line, and not give up.
In today’s verse, Paul tells us something important. There is a prize to be won – and it’s not just a ‘certificate of participation’. The prize is not entry into heaven – that is already yours, if you have been born again. But there are different levels of rewards available to us (1 Cor. 3:12-15). The prize is worth something, and it is worth dedicating your life to achieving. We need to finish the race, and finish it well. Paul wrote elsewhere, “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. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize” (1 Cor. 9:24-27). Are you aiming to win the prize that God has called you heavenward in Christ Jesus to receive?