THE RACE IS NOT TO THE SWIFT

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The world measures success with the number of possessions we hold, with the degrees we possess, with the leadership qualities we display. However, "... the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong ..." (Ecclesiastes 9:11) "Take good heed therefore unto yourselves, that ye love the LORD your God." (Joshua 23:11)

THE END OF WORLDLY WISDOM

"For it is written, I [God] will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. Where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this world? hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe." "Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men. For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called: But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: That no flesh should glory in his presence. But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption." (I Corinthians 1:19-21; 25-30)

THE REALITY OF THE RACE OF LIFE

The apostle Paul, who spent several years in prison for crimes he did not commit, was beaten for preaching the gospel and was persecuted for telling people what they didn?t want to hear.  He wrote much about the "race of life" that we run. He used analogies of athletics as symbols to help us identify with the messages the LORD laid upon his heart to teach: "And this I do for the gospel's sake, that I might be partaker thereof with you. Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain." (I Corinthians 9:23,24)

THE VALUE OF TIME

In the business world, many are familiar with the saying:  "Time is money."  Sadly, few of us realize how valuable every minute of time is on this earth - that it is a gift from God, who through Jesus Christ created everything, including time. (Colossians 1:16) In chapter three of Ecclesiastes, the word time is used thirty-one times within ten verses. In 3:17, we are told "... God shall judge the righteous and the wicked: for there is a time there for every purpose and for every work." As Jesus gave us the example, we are to be at all times glorifying the Father and doing His work on this earth. "I [Jesus Christ] must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world." (John 9:4,5)

Many misunderstand how we are to "be about our Father?s business,"  whether it is raising our children, relating to those at work, choosing our moments of relaxation or communicating with those around us.  God temporarily put the gift of time in place for our benefit as recorded in Genesis 1:14: "And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years." "And sware by him [Jesus Christ] that liveth for ever and ever, who created heaven, and the things that therein are, and the earth, and the things that therein are, and the sea, and the things which are therein, that there should be time no longer." (Revelation 10:6)

So what is the message in running the race? It is so masterfully put in chapters eleven and twelve of Ecclesiastes. Begin to study by first concentrating on Ecclesiastes 11:9,10: "Rejoice, O young man [or woman], in thy youth; and let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth, and walk in the ways of thine heart, and in the sight of thine eyes: but know thou, that for all these things God will bring thee into judgment. Therefore remove sorrow from thy heart, and put away evil from thy flesh [set no wicked thing before your eyes; be involved in no sinful acts]: for childhood and youth are vanity [are filled with pride in one?s appearance, qualities, achievements, possessions, etc.]."

FEW RECEIVE THE LORD IN THEIR "GOLDEN YEARS"

Especially indicative of youth is that they imagine they are immortal and they will not take on the characteristics of "old age.". They only think of death, disease and disaster afflicting the aged. They believe they always have tomorrow to get their lives right, to spend time establishing a relationship with Jesus Christ. This is a great deception. Proportionally fewer people turn to the LORD in their "golden years" than do those in their youth. So the admonition is to flee sin while we are young should be a grave warning. It is then that we must establish godly lifestyles of obedience and righteousness and learn to apply the Word to every area of our lives, whether it is popular or not, whether it is easy or difficult.

Old age creeps up on people, and afflictions come that greatly hinder their receiving Biblical truths. Through education and hard work, many learn to be self-sufficient. Millions have, in their eyes, lived successfully but are biblically living in sinful spousal relationships, have defrauded their marriage partners or have defrauded the government that the LORD has placed in charge over them. Others have stolen from the LORD time, financial resources and the utilization of many talents meant to be used for His glory, but are given to worldly lusts. In contrast, many others have been loyal to their marriage partners, have paid the government what it requires and have had a very honorable secular life. However, their careers and families have been their focus and God has been given but a pittance of acknowledgment, if at all, as selfishness  overrules the desire to share both time and financial resources with God.

THE GRAVE DANGER IN PUTTING OFF SERVING THE LORD

The command, is to "Remember now thy Creator [build a personal relationship with Jesus Christ] in the days of thy youth [before sickness and death come], while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them." (Ecclesiastes 12:1) Continuing in verses two through seven are examples of the aging process. We are to learn how to serve the LORD while we are young through obedience to our parents, teachers, government authorities, employers, etc. As we are diligent workmen to study the Word, the Holy Spirit will show us how to respond Biblically to all issues of life:  "Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth."  (II Timothy 2:15)

THE BODY, A PIECE OF CLAY, RETURNS TO DUST

After death, the body, this piece of "clay" which is in the Potter?s (God?s) hand, returns to dust.  We determine whether we shall let Him mold us into perfection through obedience to the Word or to rebel and spend eternity in torment: "... into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched: Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched." (Mark 9:43,44) So many warnings are given to each of us to end the "race of life" living a life committed to a relationship with Jesus Christ: "Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil." (Ecclesiastes 12:13,14)

BE 100%

If you are not 100% certain that you are saved, please get on your knees right now before the LORD and cry out to Him to save you. Begin a serious study of the Scriptures to get to know Jesus Christ by reading and studying the Word of God every day, by praying and finding a church fellowship that can help you grow in the knowledge of Him. "Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own stedfastness. But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen." (II Peter 3:17,18)

If you are practicing or are involved in any sin such as those listed in I Corinthians 6:9,10 and Galatians 5:19-21, take immediate steps to flee that behavior, including sexual sin of any type: having an affair with someone, being involved in an adulterous marriage relationship (Romans 7:2,3), lying, stealing, taking the LORD?s name in vain, having unforgiveness toward anyone, being involved with the occult or drunkenness, having an "unbridled" tongue, etc. "Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. Neither yield ye your members [any part of your body] as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God." (Romans 6:12,13)

PARENTS LAY MUCH IMPORTANT GROUNDWORK

During the early stages of the "race of life," we must learn to be obedient, to turn from all known sin. We must know what to do when we lie, cheat, lust.  We must stop practicing sin AND turn to God with a sorrowful, repentant heart.  It's important to memorize and quote the Word (Scripture from the Bible) and stay away from all influences that might entice us to repeat former sinful practices.  Unfortunately, many adults when they were children learned how to manipulate their parents who made themselves too busy to follow up on chastisement (punishment/correction).  They may have been ignorant of God?s order for the home or just didn't realize the importance of obeying God's principles for rearing children.  Many children were not taught the meaning of repentance, of the importance of memorizing Scripture and the significance of hiding the Word in their hearts - of the purpose of "doing" what is commanded in the Word of God. Being blinded to all this, many think they are running the "race of life" successfully, especially if things are going well for them.  Some follow the disastrous example of Adam and Eve, who when they were caught in sin, tried to "cover" their turning away from God's commands by blaming someone else and making physical coverings, neither of which "hide" sin from God.   

We violate the Word in so many areas of the Bible.  The Word says parents are to train up their children.  (Deuteronomy 6:6-9)  They, however, delegate this vitally important responsibility to the government, to church leadership, to friends and relatives and child-care facilities. 

God says it?s one man for one woman. Society wrongly thinks God is not serious and enters into multiple marriage relationships. God says the wife?s "job" is to be a keeper at home and to be a help meet for her husband.  "To be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed."  (Titus 2:5)  Instead, many wives have become the "keeper" outside the home and someone else's help meet.  

God commands us to daily commune with Him through Bible study and prayer. We tell Him we are too busy; the Bible is too hard to understand; it?s not as exciting as the daily newspaper, or the evening news or other TV programs.  Oh how grievous as the clay refuses to respond to the Potter's loving hands!

JUDAS (THE CLAY) REBELLED WITH BEHAVIORS WHICH LED HIM TO SUICIDE INSTEAD OF ETERNAL LIFE WITH JESUS CHRIST

Consider what happened to Judas, who at one time was one of THE chosen 12 disciples. Did he come into this life as that precious baby knowing how to lie and aiding the highest officials of the land into killing Jesus Christ?  No, Judas most likely learned these "skills" one lie at a time, one lust at a time. He allowed greed and power to overtake his life, even though he walked with Jesus, saw His miracles and was present for many of His teachings. When Judas was caught, sadly, he didn?t truly repent. It was too late because he had created within himself a hardened heart.  He most likely "practiced" deceit for many years and, as a result, became "hardened" in this behavior.  "For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death." (II Corinthians 7:10) 

With his worldly remorse (false repentance), Judas committed suicide, instead of having godly sorrow (true repentance) and turning to the Man (Jesus) Who was his Friend, Who would have forgiven him. "Then Judas, which had betrayed him [Jesus] when he saw that he was condemned [was caught], REPENTED himself, and brought again the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, Saying, I [Judas] have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent blood. And they [govern ment officials] said, What is that to us? see thou to that. And he cast down the pieces of silver in the temple, and departed, and went and hanged himself." (Matthew 27:3-5)

Some become confused when they read that Judas "repented himself ..." because of the words which he spoke.  It appeared that he had repented, especially when he even returned the money he had gained for turning Jesus over to the officials. However, this was not a "godly sorrow [that] worketh repentance to salvation"; i.e., a change of heart toward God.  

DETERMINE THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN RESPONSES FOR  BEING "CAUGHT" AND THOSE CHARACTERISTICS OF TRUE REPENTANCE

There are two closely defined words for repentance in the Greek language: metamellomai and metanoeo. Metamellomai, used in the reference to Judas, is the type of repentance many of us practiced before we were born again. We wished that what had been done hadn?t happened, often accompanied with regrets or even remorse, but there was no change of heart wherein we abhorred the sin and would have nothing to do with it. True repentance which leads to salvation is metanoeo. It includes regret or sorrow but also involves a true change of heart toward God and what is taught in the Holy Scriptures.  "For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world."  (Titus 2:11,12)  

Even though reference has been made above to the underlying Greek words for repentance, it is unnecessary to study the Greek language to figure out the difference between true and false repentance.  When we learn to contextually study God's Word, as workmen (get our meanings from within the text), we will be able to rightly divide the principles given in God's Word as the Holy Spirit will reward us with such understanding when we do our part.  

ESAU'S LUST FOR FOOD REVEALED HIS HARDENED HEART

And consider Esau, this man who played games with his birthright. He let his momentary lust for food drive him to trade his prized inheritance for one morsel of meat. "Lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright. For ye know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected: for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears." (Hebrews 12:16,17)

Oh, dear reader, please, consider the above examples of tragic lost souls. They played around with sin and got caught in the net of it and COULD NOT come to true repentance because THEY LET their hearts become hardened against God.  Don?t reap the price (wage) of sin, whether it be manifest in pride, earthly comfort, career aspirations, relationship entanglements or money.  Don't let these "earthly matters" keep you from right now running from sin and to Jesus Christ. "For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."  (Romans 6:23)   

Or perhaps you?re not living in seemingly outward sin, but you are refusing to daily study the Word of God and pray, to develop a quiet, gentle spirit. When we refuse to study the Word of God and pray, we separate ourselves from the only One who cared enough to die a torturous death for us.  The price of separation - the wrath of God - is given so graphically many times: "... and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone .... And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night ..." (Revelation 14:10,11) "But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved." (Matthew 24:13)

"Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip" (Hebrews 2:1), and ourselves become reprobates as did ...

"... The LORD is with you, while ye be with him; and if ye seek him, he will be found of you; but if ye forsake him, he will forsake you."  (II Chronicles 15:2)  "Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own stedfastness."  (II Peter 3:17)

Those who receive the Word, must be diligent to continue studying and abiding in It, else they too fall and be cast into the fire of hell and torment. "If a man abide (obey the Word) not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned." (John 15:6)

You may have "walked the aisle" in a church, or were baptized as a child, or took communion.  These acts will do not save anyone, neither does confession to someone in any ecclesiastical position. A person who is saved will be living a life committed to the LORD - have a personal relationship with the LORD.  

Contact us if you would like prayer or further guidance in the Scriptures.

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