Day 16 | Sprint Toward The Goal
I’m not there yet, nor have I become perfect; but I am charging on to gain anything and everything the Anointed One, Jesus has in store for me – and nothing will stand in my way because He has grabbed me and won’t let me go. Brothers and sisters, as I said, I know I have not arrived; but there is one thing that I am doing: I’m leaving my old life behind, putting everything on the line, for this mission. I am sprinting towards the only goal that counts: to cross the line, to win the prize, and to hear God’s call to resurrection life found exclusively in Jesus, the Anointed. All of us who are mature ought to think the same way about these matters. If you have a different attitude then God will reveal this to you as well. For now, let’s hold on to what we have been shown, and keep in step with these teachings. Philippians 3: 12-16
Day 17 | Forty Days with God
I’m so far from perfect, that – in the natural world – setting perfection as an attainable goal is a bunch of foolishness. But as a Christian that is precisely the goal I am supposed to set. On my own it’s impossible, but I should strive for it anyway because Jesus chose me. (You have not chosen me, but I have chosen you and appointed you that you might go and bear fruit – fruit that will last… John 15:16) I know by faith and trust in the Lord that when I make it to the end of this race, I will be made perfect – in Christ.
My old life, the person I was before is behind me. Through faith I became a new creation in Christ and it is by faith that I run this race. I can’t look back, Jesus said in Luke 9:62 “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back, is fit for service in the kingdom of God.” Christians who keep going back or even looking back aren’t fit for service.
No matter where we are in our journey, whether we’re babes in Christ, just starting the race, or mature Christians who have been following Jesus for many years; we should all have our eyes our minds and our hearts set on the only prize that really counts: resurrection life, with Jesus Christ in Heaven.