A proper Christian life involves our running the race set before us, running the course, for the carrying out of God’s economy; we all need to seek out the journey that the Lord has ordained for us and faithfully run the race with endurance to receive the reward at the Lord’s return.
In 2 Tim. 4:7b Paul said, I have finished the course; the course refers to the journey or the pathway, the race, that the Lord has set before us.
Paul considered his life of no account as if precious to himself, in order that he may finish his course and the ministry which he has received from the Lord Jesus (Acts 20:24); this he was telling to the elders in the church in Ephesus who came to meet him at Miletus.
He knew that troubles, trials, and imprisonment awaits him, and he was aware of this, but he considered his soul-life as of no account, for he knew that he had to run the race set before him to finish the course which the Lord has given him.
This course is the journey arranged by the Lord for him; he had no choice, this was set by Him, He determined it, and he only could run the race with endurance to finish his course.
None of us know what’s next for us, but we can seek out the journey which the Lord has ordained for us and faithfully walk on it with endurance so that we may receive the prize, the reward, at the Lord’s return.
For example, none of us would have thought that today we would be “locked in our own homes” and be the “masked people”, keeping a “social distance” from everyone around us; however, we run the race with endurance, and we walk on the journey that the Lord has set before us.
We all need to have this sense in a personal way that we have a race to run; this race is not in competition with other believers but rather, we all journey, we all run a race, and the race is personal.
Others may finish their course earlier than us, but our course is still going on.
As members of the Body, we live our Christian life in the context of the corporate church life, the corporate expression of the Body, but we should not merely pursue and serve the Lord in a general way without a sense that we have a course, a journey.
We need to have the sense that we are running the race and walking on the journey that the Lord has set for us; even if we stumble and fall, we turn to the Lord, we tell the enemy to shut his mouth, and we go on with the Lord!
We will rise again, even though we fall; we rise not because we are strong or because our will is so strong – we rise because there is One in heaven praying for us and ministering to us and because the Body is supplying and interceding! Amen!
How encouraging it is for us to realize that the Lord is interceding for each one of us, and He is ministering in the heavens to supply us to run the race with endurance!
How supplying it is to know that the Body is also praying and ministering, so that all the members of the Body would run the race with endurance and travel on the journey which the Lord has set before them!
We need to run the Race with Endurance and Seek out the Journey the Lord set Before us to Receive the Reward
As believers in Christ, we are not merely saved by God in a general way from sin, and now we have to “do our best” to follow the Lord and be in the church.
It is very important for every Christian to seek out the journey which the Lord has ordained and faithfully walk on it.
Many believers didn’t find the journey that the Lord has ordained for them; others, however, even though they found it, they don’t walk on it.
That’s why their living is filled with much spiritual death, gloom, and restrictions; this is the reason there are so many conflicts and arguments in God’s work.
Each one of us need to put ourselves into God’s hand in a quiet, patient, prayerful, and consecrated way, obeying the Lord concerning the journey He has set for us, seeking His leading with our whole heart.
We need to travel on the journey the Lord set before us, being willing to obey the Lord and act only in accordance with His will.
May we be before the Lord not only in a general way concerning the things happening to us, the people around us, or the work we do for Him, but in a specific way concerning the journey He has designated for us, and then pay the price to wholeheartedly walk on it.
Our whole Christian life is a race; it is not a race to obtain eternal life, for we have already obtained eternal life, and therefore we are now in the race.
Having eternal life, we are qualified to run the race with endurance to obtain the reward.
At the end of our Christian race, we may either receive a reward (the crown) or a discipline (1 Cor. 9:24-25).
To receive the crown as a reward for our running the race with endurance means that we obtain the kingdom as a reward, that is, we will enter into the joy of the Lord and become kings to reign and receive glory with the Lord Jesus.
The kingdom and reigning in the kingdom of one thousand years is the reward for the overcoming believers, for those who run the race with endurance and are qualified to receive the crown.
We have already obtained eternal life, but obtaining the reward of the kingdom depends on how we run the race today.
We need to consider our words, our conduct, our thoughts, our living, and everything about us, for these determine whether we will receive the reward of the kingdom in the future.
We need to abandon ourselves to the Lord, consecrate fully to Him, be faithful to Him and His Word, and overcome daily as we run the race with endurance so that we may be those who receive the crown.
May we not be those who desire the world, walk according to their flesh, and save their soul-life in this age, for such ones will not receive the kingdom as a reward but rather, they will receive a dispensational discipline.
The apostle Paul began to run the course of the heavenly race after he was taken possession of by the Lord; he continually ran on it so that he might finish it (1 Cor. 9:24-26; Phil. 3:12-14).
In Philippians he said that he has not arrived, but kept running; even though he was a mature believer, he kept forgetting the things which are behind and stretching forward to the things before, for he wanted to obtain the out-resurrection, the overcomers’ resurrection.
Paul had a course right from the beginning; God had a particular journey for him, and this included him preaching the gospel, visiting many countries for the gospel, being imprisoned, writing letters to the churches, being released, being imprisoned again, and then being martyred.
It wasn’t until the last moment of his running the race that the apostle Paul could triumphantly proclaim, I have finished the course; it was only in 2 Tim. 4:7-8 that he had the assurance that he would be rewarded by the Lord at His appearing.
We all have a course to run, a journey to walk, a race to run, and none of us can say that he has finished or that he knows that he will finish; if we say this, we deceive ourselves.
We need to realize our weaknesses, know what we are capable of, and live by the mercy and grace of God to run the race with endurance for the prize.
It is only at the end of our journey that we are assured that we will get the crown of righteousness.
We must pray to the Lord to grant us the grace to run the race with endurance and finish our course.
We cannot lengthen or shorten our journey, but we can cooperate with the Lord by first seeing our journey assigned by the Lord, and then running the race with endurance for the prize.
A proper Christian life involves our running the course, the race, for the carrying out of God’s economy according to His eternal purpose.
Lord Jesus, we seek out the journey which the Lord has ordained for us and we want to faithfully walk on it. We put ourselves into God’s hand in a quiet, patient, prayerful, consecrated, and obedient way, and we want to wholeheartedly seek after His leading. Oh Lord, we give You our words, our conduct, our thoughts, our living, and everything about us; may all be according to Your will on the journey You ordained for us. Amen, Lord, we want to be those who run the race with endurance until we finish our course and receive the prize – reigning with Christ in the coming kingdom! Oh Lord, grant us the grace to run the race with endurance today. May we not be discouraged by our failures but continue running with endurance until we finish our course and receive the prize!
Put aside every Encumbrance and the Sin and Run with Endurance the Race set before us for the Prize
May we look away unto Jesus and put away every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and may we run with endurance the race set before us (Heb. 12:1).
Each one of us needs to seek out the journey that the Lord has ordained for us, and we need to faithfully walk on it; each one of us needs to pay any price to wholeheartedly continue on our journey until we reach the end (2 Tim. 4:7).
The Lord may restrict us, the environment may be quite limiting and constricting, yet we should not try to get out of it; rather, we need to run the race with endurance and go on with the Lord on the pathway He has set for us.
No one can run the race for us, no one can walk on our journey, and no one can tell us what our course is; we need to contact the Lord directly, take His direction as the Head, and then we can also fellowship with the others, but the journey is of the Lord.
Similarly, we cannot interfere with someone else’s journey; we shouldn’t give our opinion on others’ running the race, neither can we try to determine or interfere with others’ race.
After we are saved, God puts us into a race, which is aimed directly at the kingdom; the goal is the kingdom, the prize is the kingdom, and we need to run the race with endurance until we reach the goal!
In the Olympics, the runners of the race need to put aside anything that encumbers them, and they need to give up any extra weight that would slow them down.
As those running the race toward the prize, we need to lay aside any encumbrance, anything that hinders us from running; there are many things that weigh us down, causing us to not run fast but rather to slow down and even stop from running.
We need to put aside any weight, any encumbrance, and the sin which so easily entangles us.
The things of this world, the necessities of life, the world with its entertainment and pleasures, and sin – all these want to slow us down and even stop us from running the race.
As those who want to receive the prize, we need to lay aside anything that stops us from running the race, anything that slows us down, and anything that encumbers us.
The reward is given not at the beginning of the race, nor is it given in the middle of the race; the reward is given right at the end.
There are some runners who fall down and can’t get up right before the finish line; they run well at the start, they keep running in the middle, but right at the end, they fail.
For us to win the prize, we need to run the race with endurance; we need endurance, for the prize is given to us only at the end.
We have to be careful; we cannot say that will surely win the prize, neither can we say that we will for sure receive the reward.
May we follow the pattern of Paul who did not consider to have obtained or being already perfected, but he pursued toward the goal for the prize to which God in Christ Jesus has called him (Phil. 3:12-14).
If we give ourselves to the Lord to run the race with endurance, we will lose our future; our future will be Christ Himself, and we will gain Christ as the reward that God gives us in this age and the kingdom in the next age.
But if we want to have a career, if we have some goals in this age that we want to attain, we are trying to set our course in this age, and we are being slowed down in our running of the race, and we may even delay our running.
May we not choose our own course that we want to run; rather, may we run the race that God sets before us (Acts 20:24).
Lord Jesus, we want to run the race with endurance, laying aside any encumbrance and the sin which entangles us so easily. Amen, Lord, we put aside anything that weighs us down, anything that hinders us from running the race toward the prize. We forget the things behind, and we stretch forward to the things before. Amen, Lord, we have not already obtained, neither are we already perfected, but we pursue toward the goal for the prize to which God in Christ Jesus has called us upward! We do not trust in ourselves; we do not trust in our own strength or zeal to run the race. We don’t want to choose the course that we want to run; we just give ourselves to You, and we want to run with endurance the race set before us, looking away unto Jesus!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Sources of inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message by Ron Kangas for this week, and portions from, Collected Works of Watchman Nee vol. 17, pp. 229-234, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, The Christian Life, the Church Life, the Consummation of the Age, and the Coming of the Lord (2020 fall ITERO), week 7, Fighting the Good Fight, Finishing the Course, and Loving the Lord’s Appearing.
- Hymns on this topic:
– There’s a race for us to run—Hallelujah, / And a way for us the race to win. / To all those who have begun—Hallelujah, / God has spoken, “Look away to Him!” (Hymns #1206)
– There’s a way before us and a race to run— / Christ our way, Christ our way! / Turn away from everything distracting us— / Run the race, run the race! (Hymns #1207)
– When I’ve run the race before me / And have fought to victory, / I’ll be raptured to the glory of the Lord; / When I’ve kept the faith at any cost, / The Holy City then / I’ll receive as my reward. (Song on, When I’ve run the race before me)
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