Run with Purpose: Living with Spiritual Discipline

1 Corinthians 9:24-27

²⁴ Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. ²⁵ Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. ²⁶ Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air. ²⁷ No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize. (NIV)

We do not run aimlessly.

Even in our walk with the Lord, it is easy to be scattered in our approach instead of directly pursuing the Lord. The Bible teaches us to develop certain rhythms and patterns in our spiritual formation. These provide us with direction and ongoing progress. When we engage in one spiritual practice for a day here or there without any plan to remain consistent, it is easy to lose our passion for the Lord. 

It is good to read the Bible, but if we are sporadic, we miss the greater effect intended by God than if we had a disciplined rhythm of reading the Bible every day at the same time, maybe even from the same place. It is good to pray, but if our prayers are not consistent, our spiritual growth wanes. We don’t want to approach our spiritual walk with the Lord like scattered buckshot from a shotgun. We want our pursuit of the goodness of God to be like the precise, focused bullet of the sniper. We want to follow the beautiful plan of God in a straight path, not straying from it here and there in an undisciplined manner. 

Paul’s prize is Heaven, but God’s plan is for us to experience Heaven on Earth. The Bible says Heaven is advancing into this realm, and we must take hold of it with unrelenting determination. We want to pursue His way of life so that we experience the abundant plan He has for us, not only in Heaven, but right now.

Prayer: Lord, give me the Spiritual discipline to pursue You consistently each day, week, and month as You have called me to do. Amen.