28 Days: Day 21
SCRIPTURE
- 1 Corinthians 9:24-27 (NLT) 24 Don’t you realize that in a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize? So run to win! 25 All athletes are disciplined in their training. They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize. 26 So I run with purpose in every step. I am not just shadowboxing. 27 I discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what it should. Otherwise, I fear that after preaching to others I myself might be disqualified.
OBSERVATION
Those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize. No one would train so hard for so long without intending to win. Yet out of the large number of runners, only one wins.
A great difference between those races and the Christian "race" is that every Christian who will pay the price of careful training can win. We do not compete against each other but against the obstacles—practical, physical, and spiritual—that would hinder us. In a sense, every Christian runs his own race, enabling each one of us to be a winner in winning souls to Christ. Paul therefore counsels all believers to run in such a way that you may win, by setting aside anything that might hinder the reception of the gospel.
Holding tightly to liberties and rights is a sure way to lose the race of soul-winning. Many of the Corinthian Christians seriously limited their testimony because they would not limit their liberty. They refused to give up their rights, and in so doing they won few and offended many.
MacArthur New Testament Commentary, The - MacArthur New Testament Commentary – 1 Corinthians.
UNDERSTANDING
The simple definition of discipleship is a disciplined follower of. If we are to be disciples of Christ then we must choose the path of discipline. Paul tells us that a disciple is one who trains, who beats his body and makes it a slave. All too often we have equated discipleship with someone teaching us or training us, but discipleship is more than that. Teaching is the imparting of knowledge. Discipleship is imparting the knowledge and requiring a response to the knowledge. The difference between discipleship and training is that again discipleship takes it a step further. Discipleship requires accountability for the training received.
As believers our responsibility regarding discipleship is twofold; we are to be disciples and then be responsible for others becoming disciples. We are to be transformed by Christ and be instrumental in transforming other believers, and it should be happening concurrently. Every one of us are to be disciples and making disciples regardless of if you are a new believer or one who has followed Christ for years.
LIFE APPLICATION
How many of us are missing the race and disqualifying ourselves from the prize because we are unwilling to lay down our liberties and rights? We are afraid of accountability and discipline. Let’s say yes to God’s way and what He has called us to. Let’s be about the business of the Great Commission – being disciples and making disciples. No excuses accepted!