Keep Your Eyes on the Prize
A runner cannot look backward otherwise they stumble and fall. They must look forward, racing toward the end, toward the prize as it were. We are likewise in a race only our race doesn’t end in our death. Our race continues for eternity because we’ve been saved by Jesus. We don’t merely live for today selfishly, to get what we want out of it because we will never have this day again, we live today in light of eternity. As the Apostle Paul wrote, “I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus (Phil. 3:14).”
What are we pressing on toward? Are we just taking one moment at a time with no particular purpose or direction, or are we moving with intentionality and purpose toward something? What is the goal, what is the endgame? No, It is not a Marvel Avengers movie, it is God’s conclusion. When either God calls us home or Jesus returns to judge the world and make all things new. One day our life will end and we will give an account to God of what we did with our life. Will we have lived our days in light of that end game or will we have lived it for ourselves, doing our thing, what we want, rather than what God wants?
What if we wake up every morning praying, “Lord, how do you want me to live today, what do want me to do in light of your eternal plans?”
What we do now, today, matters for eternity. God remembers and keeps record of every action. Do we run this days race knowing that it matters in the end? Do we run the race today so that we will hear Jesus say, “well done good and faithful servant”?