Good morning and welcome in everybody. Today we are going to take a look at a passage of Scripture, but before we do that I wanted to tell you a little story.
For many years, people thought that the four minute mile was unbreakable. It was a barrier that most runners felt was impossible to breach. This is because in order to do it, someone would have to maintain an average speed of 15 mph! But back in May of 1954, Roger Bannister accomplished the feat during a race in Oxford. Although other sources claim that people had done it earlier, Mr. Bannister is generally credited as being the first one to officially beat the 4-minute mark. But regardless of who has done it, each of them trained themselves to do something that most of us couldn’t even imagine doing. It’s amazing what the human body can do once somebody sets their mind on achieving something.
This reminds me of the Christian Life
We can overcome all things through Jesus Christ, but it’s going to require refocusing your mind on the will of God. We must go through Spiritual training as we discipline ourselves unto obedience in the teachings of Christ. To beat the 4-minute mile you must run it perfectly, which is the same goal for a sincere Christian. A runner perfects his body, while a Christian perfects his heart. Things that seemed insurmountable in your past can be conquered through faith, the power of God’s Holy Spirit, and a willing heart.
1 Corinthians 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. 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. ²⁶ I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air: ²⁷ But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.
If someone is going to win a gold medal at the Olympics, it is going to require some serious effort. They must train themselves every single day in order to ski the fastest times, run the longest distance, or climb the highest mountains. Although these achievements are only temporal, anyone who attempts the Christian Life must possess the same type of attitude. The main difference is that we are running a race to win an eternal prize, one that will never fade away.
2 Timothy 4 ⁷ I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: ⁸ Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.
They don’t give a gold medal away to just anybody, it is a reward given because of outstanding achievements. Likewise, God wants to reward us with a crown of life, but it will only be given to those who have overcome the carnal nature, and obediently served His will. As athletes increase their physical strength, Christians must seek to become strong in our faith through obedience towards God.
“For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise.” Hebrews 10:36
Submitting to the will of God is the proof of repentance in one’s heart. Whether someone claims to be Christian or not, without repentance people will perish.
“Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.” Matthew 7:21
Through God’s grace in Christ Jesus, we have the opportunity to become a new creature and eventually enter eternal life. To do this, we must overcome sin, becoming blameless in His sight as one of His obedient children.
“As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance:” 1 Peter 1:14
Athletes understand that in order to win, they must retrain their muscles. At times it’s going to be very difficult, but to achieve the final goal, their body will need to be perfected, which will require constant training and discipline. They retrain their bodies to do something that it wasn’t capable of doing before. Each of us are sinners who must do the same thing if we hope to obtain eternal life. We must learn to do something that we couldn’t do in our past. We must train ourselves to overcome the sinful nature, and become obedient to the will of God. Most anybody can complete a race, but a Christian must run to win. If you want to win the prize, you will need to strive for the prize.
“Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able.” Luke 13:24
Philippians 3 ¹⁴ I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. ¹⁵ Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded:….
Completing the Spiritual race is going to require endurance. Many marathon runners never get to the end because they lack this quality. We must endure sufferings and the wrongs that people put us through. We must endure when people revile and hate us. We must endure and overcome the temptations of this world, if we ever expect to cross the finish line in Paradise.
“Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.” James 1:12
“But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.” Matthew 24:13
“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 12:1
We will never be capable of entering into the kingdom of heaven unless we completely eliminate the deeds of the flesh. To men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.
Romans 8 ¹² Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. ¹³ For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. ¹⁴ For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.
Genuine faith in Christ will cause you to lovingly submit to His will, and turn away from the things that are displeasing unto Him. We can be victorious and eventually win the race to heaven, but it will require a complete transformation from a man of the world, into a man of God.
“For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.” 1 John 5:4
Are you ready to go through all of the training? Are you ready to submit to Spiritual discipline? Are you ready to bring yourself into subjection to all of the things that will be required of you. These things will have to be done, if you are ever going to beat, the….
…..Four Minute Mile
Let’s think about these things for right now. We can be found on your web browser by searching, tlkjbc where you can find our diaries distributed through various platforms. We are not associated, nor affiliated with any other religious goups. You can get our entire podcast feeds directly, along with transcripts at tlkjbc.com or I suppose that you could find us somewhere up here, in the Great Northern Minnesota woods. Peace to you, and Lord willing, we will talk with you some more tomorrow. Till then, bye bye everybody. ❤️
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