“…I have become ALL THINGS TO ALL MEN, that I might BY ALL MEANS SAVE SOME…those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown. Therefore I do not run like someone running pointlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air. But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I MYSELF SHOULD BECOME DISQUALIFIED. (1 Corin. 9:20-27) “…he who wins souls is wise.” (Prov. 11:30)
Paul says we need to do WHATEVER IT TAKES to win souls, “Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which LEADS TO LIFE, and THERE ARE FEW WHO FIND IT.” (Matt. 7:14) Paul uses runners in the Greek games as examples of how we are to pursue the unsaved. The main thing to notice is the utmost tension, energy, and strenuous effort pictured by athletes STRAINING FOR THE FINISH LINE in hope of the glory of winning. The men and women who lived, straining for the finish line, accomplished, by faith, many great and marvelous things (mentioned in chapter 11 of Hebrews). We are reminded that, “…we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us RUN WITH ENDURANCE the race that is set before us…LOOKING TO JESUS THE AUTHOR AND FINISHER OF OUR FAITH…(Heb. 12:1)
-Bill Stockham