“Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air. No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize” (1 Corinthians 9:24-27).

RUN IN SUCH A WAY AS TO GET THE PRIZE.

We always make time for what is important to us.

We always prioritize what is important to us.

We always go out of our way to do what is important to us.

So what is it that you make time for? What do you prioritize? What do you go out of your way for? It wouldn’t be that hard to determine what’s important to us. If we were to see what fills our calendar and how we actually spend our time, we would know.

The Apostle Paul reminds us – if you’re going to live this Christian life, if you’re going to live as if you were created for eternity, if you’re going to live as a disciple of Jesus Christ – run the race of life as if eternity matters, as if God matters.

Bottom line – if you’re serious about your discipleship you will make a way to invest in spiritual growth and maturity. When you are not, you will make excuses.

“Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory” (Isaiah 6:3).

Our modern world has no issues with the idea of God…as long as we are only talking about a God of love. What our world has issues with is a God who is holy, just, and righteous. What our world hates is a God who judges.

A God of love? No problem. We all love that God. Because God is love. God loves all of us.

But a God who does not get angry when evil destroys his beloved, a God who will not bring to justice and judge the evil perpetrated against his beloved, a God who refuses to acknowledge the harm and the pain caused to his beloved is not a God of love at all. Such a God is just a weak, pathetic God who can’t do anything!

If God loves his beloved, God must judge evil. If God loves his beloved, God must hate everything that endangers the peace and wellbeing of his beloved.

Yes, the God of the Bible is a God of love. And God loves so much that he cannot tolerate evil. He will judge and punish evil because he is a God of love.

“Produce fruit in keeping with repentance” (Matthew 3:8).

Because God is holy, perfect, and just, repentance is an appropriate and regular spiritual discipline for repeat sinners like you and me. But repentance is far more than feeling sorry or bad for what we’ve done. Repentance is far more than saying sorry.

The Greek word for repentance is metanoia. It certainly means to repent, but the English word repent doesn’t capture the totality of change that repentance speaks of. metanoia has in mind a complete change of mind and heart more than it does merely feeling sorry and apologizing.

That’s why, when speaking about repentance, Jesus speaks about producing fruit that is keeping with repentance. So what are the fruits that are keeping with repentance?

Glad you asked. Corrie ten Book tells us that there are four fruits or marks of true repentance:

1. An acknowledgement of wrong
2. Willingness to confess it
3. Willingness to abandon it
4. And willingness to make restitution

Imagine a world where wrong was acknowledged, confessed, abandoned, and restitution made. Wow. That kinda sounds like what the Kingdom of God might be like!