Psalms 8:1, 16:2; add 31:1-3a

My Shepherd met me in His green pastures and laid me down in 1 Corinthians 9. The Mind of the Spirit stirred the spirit of my mind in verse 24: (See verses 23-25)

1Corinthians 9:23 And this I do for the gospel’s sake, that I might be partaker thereof with you.

1Corinthians 9:24 ¶ Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain.

1Corinthians 9:25 And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible.

Paul defends his ministry against those “who would examine” him (1 Corinthians 9:3). After teaching  Christ’s ordained method for support of the gospel ministry, and explaining, to the shame of the Corinthians, why he did not use his power in the gospel (1 Corinthians 9:15), he declares the guiding principle of his ministry: “that I abuse not my power in the gospel” (1 Corinthians 9:18).

Guided by the principle that whatever he did would be to the glory of Christ (1 Corinthians 10:31; see Colossians 3:17, 23), he was not above confessing to a noble desire to obtain the incorruptible crown (1 Corinthians 9:25). He declared his second motivating principle of action: “Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prizse? So run they ye may obtain” (1 Corinthians 9:24).

Like runners in a race, Paul encouraged us to run to win. Only our race is more noble. They run for a corruptible crown; we desire to win the uncorruptible crown.  All believers are heirs to the inheritance incorruptible (1 Peter 1:4), but only those who run well obtain to the crown that Peter told us “fadeth not away” (1 Peter 5:4).

Along the still waters, I reflected on the ambition of Moses, who esteemed the reproaches of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt, and who had “respect unto the recompense of the reward (Hebrews 11:26). I thought of James and John who desired the highest seats in the Kingdom (Matthew 20:21-23), and, in light of Luke 14:8-10, how gracious Jesus was in His response to a mother’s ambitious request for her sons. I thought of Jabez, who sought prosperity (1 Chronicles 4:10). Many of God’s greatest saints were ambitious men, including Peter (Matthew 19:27), and all the Apostles (Mark 9:33-35*). Paul was in good company.

Ambition in the heart of a faithful man is a great engine that drives him forward in his race, to run through the pain, and endure to the end to hear “Well done thou good and faithful servant” (Matthew 25:21), and to receive from Jesus an incorruptible crown. Ambition in the heart of a faithless man is a great engine that drives him to push and claw his way to cross the finish line to receive a corruptible one. The end of that man’s race is hollow and empty of real meaning.

The secret of a well-done finish is a race well run. The Spirit is our Coach and He counsels us to “run with patience the race that is set before us:

Hebrews 12:1 ¶ Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,

Hebrews 12:2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

In the valley I knelt at the feet of our Champion and asked Him to guide me through the courses of my race. He said, “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me” (Luke 9:23).

At the table, the king of “many crowns” (Revelation 19:12), condescended to anoint my head with oil and fill my cup with His grace. He handed me my gospel shoes, and I noticed they felt as light as running shoes. Goodness and mercy, likewise fleet of foot, appeared to follow us into the harvest.

Praying for revival! 🙏

Going live for this devotion tomorrow morning.

[*Some think Jesus disdained ambition, and in Mark 9, rebuked it. But He taught them the way to be great in the Kingdom was opposite to what was required to be esteemed as great in this world. In other words,  you want to be “great in the kingdom of God”? Here is the way to achieve that. Here is the way to run for that prize: cultivate the faith of a child.]