By Greg Laurie

“Don’t you realize that in a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize? So run to win!”
—1 Corinthians 9:24

When I was in high school, I went out for the track. I was a pretty good runner in the short-distance events. But I got killed on long-distance runs. I would take off at the beginning of the race and leave everyone in my dust. I would be ahead of the crowd and feeling good. But then I would start getting a little fatigued. And pretty soon people started passing me.

I think the apostle Paul must have been something of a sports fan, because he used athletic analogies quite often, especially the analogy of running a race. Writing to the church in Corinth he said, “Don’t you realize that in a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize? So run to win! All athletes are disciplined in their training. They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize” (1 Corinthians 9:24–25 NLT).

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