August 10

Life is a contest whose participants are you and you. More specifically, it is a contest between the ‘old you,’ the natural man who cared for nothing but himself and the ‘new you,’ the born again man who is a reflection of the Christ who now dwells within.

The Apostle Paul explains the rules of the game clearly, and the aspect of yourself that best complies with them will be the winner. The Roman world was not unfamiliar with athletic contests. The extreme shows of physical prowess carried on in the Coliseum are well known yet today.

Paul tells us that we, like the gladiators in the Coliseum, must be prepared for the fray. Just how do we prepare? As he did. In I Corinthians 9:27 he says, “Like a boxer I buffet my spirit and subdue it (make sure I am in excellent spiritual shape) so it won’t be said of me that after I had proclaimed the Gospel to others, I myself became a castaway.”

Why must such rigor be applied to our walk with Christ? As Paul says, it is so we won’t become so focused on sharing the good news of salvation with others that we forget it ourselves. He cautions in I Corinthians 9:23-26 that our goal is to, “Run the race so that you may lay hold of the prize.” He doesn’t want the new, born again you to be a loser.