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It may be that all of you here are familiar with the fable of the tortoise and the hare, that story of old that detailed a race between a fast rabbit and a slow-of-foot turtle. In the story, the turtle challenges the bunny to a foot race and after a fit of mirth where the bunny laughs so hard that it beats its little paws on the ground, then it gets up and wipes the tears from its eyes and accepts the challenge. Everyone knows that naturally a rabbit can beat a turtle any day, so the outcome of the race certainly seemed a done deal from the start. In the fable, the animals lined up to see the beginning of the race and the ending and a course was laid out. Then the signal for the race to begin was given and the rabbit shot ahead and quickly outdistanced the slow-paced turtle, laughing all of the way. He then ran back to taunt and laugh at the turtle and then ran far ahead and fell to the ground howling in laughter. Then the rabbit got back up and ran forward, so far ahead, that he decided to laugh some more. And then, tired from all of the laughter and knowing that he was so far ahead that he could never lose, the rabbit falls asleep.

Meanwhile the turtle keeps putting one leg in front of the other and eventually reaches the place where the rabbit is soundly sleeping. Quietly passing on by without awakening his competitor, the turtle makes for the finish line one step at a time. As the other animals see him approaching, they began to cheer and their cheering awakened the rabbit who jumps up in shock just in time to see the turtle crossing the finish line ahead of him! The fable has become a standard for showing the age-old truths that what naturally seems to be the outcome is not necessarily so. And that if not taken seriously, anyone can lose something that they should have won.

I bring up the story not just to tell a cute kid's fable, but because the ancient illustration taps into something even deeper and more solid: a theme found in the very Word of God. Throughout all of scripture there is a thread that weaves in an out of various books and centuries and that begins in the Old Testament and continues throughout the letters that end the New. The theme is that of running, and the scriptures over and over again liken a believer -- someone who decides to become a follower of God -- to someone running a race.

We read of Paul's words in 1 Corinthians chapter 9 where he used the symbolism of running to represent our "walk with God." And throughout Paul's writing, it was a theme that he seemed particularly drawn to and returned time and time again. But when he brought up such things, Paul was drawing on far more ancient writers of scripture. It was a Psalmist that wrote:

The 119th Psalm is all about obeying the words and commandments of the Lord, and here the writer said, "when I obey you, I run in the path of your commands!" Living for God is like running a race!

Throughout the Old Testament, it was a theme that continued. It was Isaiah who penned the famous and often quoted verse:

And it none other than the often forgotten prophet, Habakkuk, that when God gave Him the Words to write down, said:

And so it becomes clear that when we read the scriptures and make up our mind to serve Him, we are automatically entered in a spiritual race. It goes far beyond just the ordinary rat race of life, but when we decide to serve God, we begin a test of endurance on a definite course with a definite finish line in the distance. And it is not a frivolous race but one with eternal consequences as Jesus said:

Living for God is a race to gain salvation! It is a course that may be lined with exits and setbacks and distractions, but we must never forget that the finish line and the prize will be worth the effort! Therefore, if God has a Word for anyone here today, it is "run, and run with all of your might!" It's time to give Him our best effort! It's time to serve Him with everything within us! Nothing in this life matters more than our race to eternal life!

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If you are a believer in Christ Jesus, then whether you know it or not, you are running a race. And so as we come back to our text in the 9th chapter of 1 Corinthians, I cannot help but notice clues in the scripture that not all believers run the same. Reading our text in the English Standard Version for clarity's sake, we find that Paul told the church:

There are several points that stand out to me in these scriptures. The commandment that Paul gives in verse 24 is "so run that you may obtain the prize." Just running in the race does not mean that you will finish the race. Just being a part of the race doesn't mean that you will possess the prize. Obviously, from Paul's words here it is possible for a believer to run the race of living for God and do so without receiving the prize of eternal life. Obviously for this warning to have any meaning at all, it is possible to run in such a way that you do not obtain it!

And then in verse 26, Paul says "I do not run aimlessly." Obviously for him to make such a statement then it must be possible to "run for Jesus but do so aimlessly!" There might have even been some believers in the church to which he was writing that ran for God and yet did so poorly. To the point that even though they were a part of the race, their lack of effort and lack of direction disqualified them from ever hoping to actually claim the prize of eternal life.

I know that such thoughts are very sobering, but we cannot escape such verses by ignoring them. And it continues in other writings of Paul; listen to this verse written to the church of Philippi:

Paul said that he was "holding fast" to the Word of God so that when Jesus comes back he would know that he "did not run in vain," or "run for nothing" as the NIV puts it. For him to make such a statement, then it follows that it must be possible to run for Christ and yet do so "for nothing!"

And then we come to a verse in Paul's letter to the church in Galatia where he asks them:

"You were running the race of faith, well, Galatians, but what happened?" "Who hindered you?" And so obviously from this scripture, it becomes apparent that although everyone who confesses to believe in Jesus is automatically enlisted in a spiritual race for eternal life, that not everyone's race will end with joy and celebration. And the Galatians prove -- like the rabbit in the story -- that even those who at first seem to run the best are in danger of getting sidetracked and hindered along the way. Obviously the scriptures and our fable join together to resoundingly emphasize "it's not so much how you started, as how you finish that counts!"

I'm aware that there are many so called "Christians" who think that they believe once and so they have heaven assured them, but it is obvious from the scriptures that it matters how day in and day out that you choose to run the race, as to the outcome. And so I want to join with the Apostle Paul and urge you: don't just run for Christ, but rather run in such a manner so that you can obtain the prize! If you've run well for years, then let this message spur you on to keep on running well. If you have never begun the race of living for God, then decide today to enlist, for if you do not run, you cannot get the prize of eternal life! If you have believed years before and yet have never really taken it seriously, then it's time to rethink what is most important in your life! The rat race of prosperity in this life and trying to get more stuff and accumulate wealth is not the most important race, for you can win at life and lose at eternity. And if the opposite were to prove true: that you lose at life and win at eternity, then in ten million years from now, when eternity is just beginning, will the losses and heartaches of this life really matter? And yet most people put more effort in how they run the race of this life, than running the spiritual race of Christ. But let today be the turning point of such actions in your life and make up your mind: I'm in this spiritual race of living for God, and I will run in such a manner that I can obtain the prize! I'm in this to finish a winner! I'm running to win!

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In the natural there are some for which running comes more easily than others. Such is no doubt also true in the Spirit. For some, the things of God are more easily grasped than others. It would seem that some people are more naturally sensitive than others to the moving and direction shifts of the Spirit of God. Like the story of old, it would seem that even in the kingdom of God, some people are spiritual "rabbits" and others are spiritual "turtles!" And many others are somewhere in between.

But hear this preacher well: like as in the story, in the kingdom of God it is a mistake to think that the natural bent of a person's spiritual makeup indicates who will win this race and those who will fail! In the kingdom of God, the last will be first and the first last. The elder shall serve the younger. Jesus told the Pharisees and doctors of the law, that people who began life as tax collectors and harlots would enter into the kingdom of heaven before them! And so I want to impress upon you today that although some people may be better "natural runners" in the Spirit, yet your success at running for God will depend more upon the decisions you make and "how you choose to run" rather than some innate natural ability! More simply put: you have just as good an opportunity to get to heaven as anybody else, but the difference between those that make it and those who don't will be the difference in how they chose to run their race.

In fact, your success and failure at running this spiritual race for eternal life will hinge upon your personal decisions made in four specific areas. The first such issue is:

When I read our first text, many of you wondered what the point of the reading would be today. We read in 2 Samuel, the 18th chapter of the army of David discovering the death of the king's rebellious son, Absalom. Knowing that King David would be anxiously awaiting news of the outcome of the battle and even more so the fate of his son, the general Joab decided to dispatch a runner -- a messenger who was fleet of foot -- to give David the grim news.

In our message today, the circumstances of David and Absalom are of less importance than the way that the message got there. Because the scriptures say that when it became obvious that Joab was looking for a runner, a young man named Ahimaaz, eagerly volunteered for the job. We do not know why Ahimaaz wanted so badly to run, and we also do not know why Joab overlooked him and chose instead a man named Cushi to take the message to David, but that is what happened. Joab gave Cushi the message and then Cushi took off running. After he was gone, Ahimaaz, again came to Joab and begged to run and we find this:

Ahimaaz got a late start and had no purpose to run, but because he "ran by the way of the plain," he overtook, passed, and outran Cushi!

These scriptures are not there by accident, but God wanted us to realize a principle: it matters less how fast you are, or how early or late a start in life that you got in running for Jesus, if you choose the right path! Obviously Cushi had chosen a winding or hilly path. But Ahimaaz chose the "way of the plain" which was a straight shot and he was the one that won the footrace!

John the Baptist quoted an ancient scripture from the prophet Isaiah about what Jesus the Christ would do when He came:

The path that leads to salvation is the way "that is straight!" It is the "way of the plain." It is the "rough places become level." I've known some people to try to live for God and yet they are always taking detours. They live for God for a while and then they take a winding road away from God's path. They try to live for God and then they choose to let a valley coming up take them away from His presence. And I've even known some that the mountains -- the good times and the highs of life -- brought distractions to their "staying the course."

If, as the Psalmist said, the Lord's commands "are a path" that we run in, then understand that when we choose to disobey God's commandment, we are turning aside and choosing another path. As the scriptures say:

There are some who have believed and yet are trying to get to heaven by following the path "of what seems right to me." That is a crooked road indeed! Like Cushi's choice, it is a path littered with valleys and mountains and twists and turns. But if you choose to get to heaven by choosing the path of complete obedience to the Word of the Lord, then you are like Ahimaaz who chose the "way of the plain!" And there is no doubt who of the two will win, because obeying the Word of the Lord and doing what He thinks is right instead of your natural, fleshy desires is a "straight shot" to glory! It matters not how early in life or late in life you began serving the Lord, but more important is "which path have you chosen to try to get to heaven?" Are you choosing the winding path of man's tradition and personal opinion, or are you sticking to the straight and level "Word of God?!"

I'm preaching about "running to win!" I preaching about making up in your mind, that I will "run to obtain" the prize! If you are running to win, then you can't be gungho for God for a few weeks and then take few weeks off! Those mountains and valleys are going to cause you, Cushi, to fail in what you are doing! Sure the path of life may have its ups and down and its twist and turns but I refuse to let it affect my spiritual race! No matter what is going on in my life, I will continue down the path of obeying His commands! I will choose the "way of the plain!" I will choose the straight shot to heaven! I'm running to win! Therefore I will take no spiritual turns or detours!

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Furthermore, your winning this race will depend upon

Where your strength comes from.

What energy reserve are you regularly tapping into? What does it take for you to run well? If the answer is anything other than the Spirit and help of God, then you very likely will not have the stamina and strength to make it in this spiritual race!

In another Old Testament 18th chapter, this time in the book of 1 Kings, we find another story that helps to illustrate this truth. Elijah is trying to convince evil king Ahab to stop serving idols and particularly the false god, Baal. Elijah has just called down fire from Jehovah God upon an altar on the mountainside to prove that the God of Israel is the only true God. And the three year drought that had been inflicted upon the land at the prophet's word was about to end with a deluge of rain. Elijah, told the unbelieving Ahab to get into his chariot and ride for the city of Jezreel before the rain overtook him and swamped his path! In the story, we find this curious scriptural account:

The "hand of the Lord was on Elijah" therefore he was able to outrun even Ahab's chariot and horses! The principle hidden here in this story is that, "When you allow the Spirit to undergird you, you can run better and more effectively than if you had all the vices and helps of men!" I'm preaching to some of you who have believed a lie from the devil and a lie from your own flesh that has said, "You cannot live for God victorious," and "You cannot run this spiritual race and win." And so to you I would proclaim, "You are exactly right, because relying upon your own power and ability, you do not have the ability to run and obtain eternal life," but never forget that God is not asking you to run drawing on your own strength, but rather drawing from Him and trusting in Him! Despite the limitations of your flesh ands strength, if you will rely constantly on God's help and let His Spirit undergird you, then you cannot help but win! Do a quick search of scriptures using the phrase "my strength" and you will find a multitude of scriptures where people wrote "the Lord is my strength!" Despite their weaknesses and despite their pasts, they that trusted in the Lord were constantly renewed in strength and they made it!

If you desire to "run to win" then your success will be based upon "which path you choose," "where your strength comes from," and also a "what" as in:

What you choose to carry as you run.

The fastest runner, weighted down with heavy things, will lose the race. It is a foregone conclusion that to run a race in the natural, we must strip ourselves of dead weight and things that would slow us down and cause us to tire. But what is so clear in the natural, tends to be overlooked in the spiritual, even though it very much applies.

The 11th chapter of Hebrews is the "hall of fame of faith" in which a great many names of people who have been faithful in the race of living for God are mentioned and enshrined. Immediately after these people are mentioned, we find this verse:

Let us lay aside "every weight and sin!" One translation, the New Living Translation, puts it this way:

Some Christians believe and are earnestly trying to run their best, and yet they do so with unrepented sin hanging on that constantly hinders them and tires them out. There is an old saying that "it is hard to live for God easy and easy to live for God hard." There is a great truth in that, because if you try to hold on to sin and run for God, you will become quickly "worn out" from the extra weight. Anytime I hear somebody say "I'm just tired of living for God" or "I need a break from church" I immediately think back to this verse and realize "they are trying to run the race with sin still attached in their life." Jesus said that "my yoke is easy and my burden is light!" It is when we try to hold onto the things of this world and yet run our best for Jesus that we get "tired" spiritually! If you want to run to win, you've got to get rid of the extra weight of sin!

And notice that there is a difference between "weights" and "sins" in this verse. Not only must we cast off the works of darkness that the scripture so clearly identifies, but we must also cast off any "weight." There may be something that the scripture doesn't clearly point out as sin, but that hinders your walk with God, hampers your ability to be sensitive to the things of God, or restricts your ability to be faithful to God. If so, then whatever it is has become "a weight" to you. If you want to run to win, we must get rid of all distractions and all weights AND sins that cling to us and slow us down! There is nothing of this world that is so precious as to be worth me losing my soul over! If you want to run to win, get rid of the sins and also the "weights!"

And last but not least, your winning the race will have much to do with a "who" as in:

Who your constant companion is as you run.

We've already read how that Paul asked the church in Galatia:

It was obviously a "person" or a "somebody" who had caused the Galatians to stop running well for God. You see, who you choose to run with regularly will have a great impact on your pace and direction! We humans have a tendency to match the stride of the person that we are running with. It's natural instinct to pace ourselves alongside the person next to us. Therefore, who you run with makes a big difference as to how you run! The scriptures say:

And it applies for running, also! Your choice of constant friends -- who you run with -- tells you much about your spiritual direction, pace, and goal. When you choose to run with someone, you "agree with them" and they will affect you!

If I had the time today, I could go to the 13th chapter of 2 Samuel and tell you about a boy named Amnon who desired his half sister and yet would have left well enough alone, except the scripture tells us that "Amnon had a friend" and that friend was deceitful and wicked, and so he placed the idea to seduce and rape the girl into Amnon's mind and because of the suggestion and the influence of his friend, Amnon, gave himself to evil and did the horrible deed to his half-sister Tamar, and thus reaped the horrible judgment of God. Who you run with does affect you more than we care to admit, and so if you want to run this spiritual race to win, we must guard our companionship closely and choose to run with those who are going the right direction, and who are making the right strides, and who are moving forward in God!

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The message of Paul to the church in Corinth so long ago is still the message for the church today: if you are to run, run so that you can obtain the prize! If we are to run, then let us run to win! Let us choose the right path to run; let us draw constant strength from God, Almighty! Because we aim to win! Let us remove the weight and sin that would slow us and choose our companions well, because we aim to win!

At the end of your life, whenever that day comes, you want the final words of Paul to be your final words also:

Paul was saying, "I have ran and I have won!" And therefore, "now there is a crown laid up for me!" If you are going to run this race of living for God, do so with the end in mind and make up in your mind, that whatever I have to do to gain eternal life, that I will do! Whatever you do, run with winning as the foremost goal!