Fri 2020.07.24
Reading from 1 Corinthians Chapter 9 KJV
Run, not as uncertainly. Fight, not as one that beateth the air.
What kind of running, and what sort of fighting is the Apostle writing about in verses 24 to 27 here?
In verse 24 he likens the Christian life to an athletic race where only the fastest will receive the prize. In writing this, the Apostle is calling the believers in Corinth to do their utmost, to live a life that will make themselves worthy of the fastest in a race.
In verse 25 the Apostle gives another analogy, that of striving for mastery in the believer's life. Those who strive to be the best, to master an athletic event, to be the champion, must be "temperate", i.e. self-controlled in all things. They who strive to be masters in this world do so for corruptible rewards, but the believers in Iesou the Anointed do it for an incorruptible crown.
This call to lead a life of self-control is reiterated in verse 27 where the Apostle writes of himself, "I keep under my body, and bring it to subjection", as much as he preaches to others.
Dear brothers and sisters, let us do our utmost to run this race, to strive for mastery by a of self-control, to keep our bodies under subjection, that we may win that incorruptible crown at the end of our sojourn in this world.
Let us run, not as uncertainly, but with single-minded perseverance to obtain the only prize ahead of us. Let us fight, not as one beating the air, but with self-control, as one who recognises the enemy working through our bodies.
1 Corinthians 9:24 - 27 KJV
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.
