“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
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In our modern Olympic Games, athletes can win medals in many different sports. But in the ancient Olympics, there was only one athlete who could be the winner, no matter how many were in the competition.
This is what the apostle Paul was referring to when he said in 1 Corinthians 9:24, “Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize?”
In other words, the runners knew and were very aware of the fact that only one athlete would win, and not just win, but achieve a coveted prize too. And yet they were still willing to compete as runners. They did not say to themselves, “Why bother? Only one of us is going to win.”
We know from Scripture that God has many rewards for Christian service (Colossians 3:23-24; Matthew 5:11-12, 10:42; Luke 6:35), and rewards are not reserved for just one Christian. Every Christian has an opportunity to win the prize.
And then Paul goes on to say: “Run in such a way as to get the prize.” If runners can run knowing that only one will win, how much more should we run our individual Christian race knowing that each individual Christian can receive one or more gold crowns? We don’t have to worry about another Christian getting our rewards.
To win you have to be a Christian, living for and following Christ, and using your spiritual gifts to the glory of God until you reach the finish line. Now, Paul did not say our Christian race of endurance was easy, just like it is not an easy competition for the Olympic athletes. But don’t quit; stay in the race because we have to be in it to win it. Let’s go for the gold!
— S.E. Gregg
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