Running to Win
January 30, 2022
Commentary
Paul was satisfied with Jesus Christ but He was not satisfied with his Christian life. To many, Paul was a spiritual giant. However, he wanted them to know that he had not yet obtained his spiritual goals (v. 10). He was still actively pressing toward these goals. When Paul spoke of his gain he was referring credentials, credits and successes(vv. 7-8). He could beat the Judaizers at their own game (being proud of who they were and what they had done) but it is the wrong game. We need to be careful of considering past achievements so important the they get in the way of our relationship with Christ. Paul gave up everything (family, friendship and freedom) in order to know Christ and His resurrection power (vv. 9-11).
Many Christians are self-satisfied because they compare their life with that of other Christians. If Paul had compared himself with others, he would have been tempted to be proud and perhaps to let up a bit. Instead Paul compared himself with himself and with Jesus Christ! He had not arrived at perfection (v. 12), but he is striving for maturity (v.13), and one mark of that maturity is that he is not perfect.
Paul pursued Christlikeness with the enthusiasm and persistence of a runner. Vigorously and with concentration Paul sought to win the prize to which God had called him. He kept his eyes on the goal and he refused to let anything distract him (v. 14).
Application
Even though I am in the senior years of my life I am running to win and have a goal of finishing well for the Lord by finishing my devotional commentary on the whole Bible.
Philippians 3:7– 14 (NET)
7 But these assets I have come to regard as liabilities because of Christ. 8 More than that, I now regard all things as liabilities compared to the far greater value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things —indeed, I regard them as dung! —that I may gain Christ, 9 and be found in him, not because I have my own righteousness derived from the law, but because I have the righteousness that comes by way of Christ’s faithfulness —a righteousness from God that is in fact based on Christ’s faithfulness. 10 My aim is to know him, to experience the power of his resurrection, to share in his sufferings, and to be like him in his death, 11 and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.
12 Not that I have already attained this—that is, I have not already been perfected—but I strive to lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus also laid hold of me. 13 Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself to have attained this. Instead I am single-minded: Forgetting the things that are behind and reaching out for the things that are ahead, 14 with this goal in mind, I strive toward the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
Illustration: Chewed Out or He Would Never Produce
Harry came in to the Secretary’s desk with a dismal look on his face. “You didn’t get fired?” she asked. “No, it’s not that bad. But he sure did lay into me about my sales record. I can’t figure it out; for the past month I’ve been bringing in plenty of orders. I thought he’d compliment me, but instead he told me to get with it. Later in the day, the secretary talked to her boss about Harry. The boss chuckled. “Harry is one of our best salesman and I’d hate to lose him. But he has a tendency to rest on his laurels and be satisfied with his performance. If I didn’t get him mad at me once a month, he’d never produce!” (Be Joyful – Warren Weirsbe, p. 105).