The week’s memory verse is 1 Corinthians 9:24-27. Write it down.

Keep this verse in front of you this week. Write it on a notecard and keep it where you can read and recite it as you go through your day. Maybe place it on your bathroom mirror, your car’s dashboard, or on your refrigerator door. Find the place that best works for you!

God calls us to embrace a life-long adventure in our relationship with Him. In 1 Corinthians 9:24-27, the Apostle Paul engages an athletic metaphor to describe his life as an Apostle. The Corinthians would have understood Paul’s comparison as Corinth hosted the biennial Isthmian games. Paul encourages his readers to see their pursuit of God as a race meant for each of them to participate with focus and determination. He describes the process of our life-long adventure journeying with God as a race. Can you imagine other metaphorical illustrations of running a race? Perhaps reading a long book from start to finish, completing a project from idea to fulfillment, receiving a degree, taking a noble quest, fighting a battle, climbing a mountain, taking a canoe down a river, driving across the desert, participating in a treasure hunt, a ropes course, a swim meet, sailing across the ocean or taking a trip across the country? Other ideas?

What is your favorite image?

The winner of the race in Corinth won a perishable wreath as a crown. Only one winner won the prize in the games, but Paul urges the Corinthians to see that their journey to pursue God in love is a journey toward an eternal reward for everyone who runs.

Taking steps to know and become like Jesus does not happen without intentionality. We must participate with focus and determination because Christ is central to all change. Taking steps to know and become like Jesus, however, does not mean a hectic life. The prize is not external works of service. The pursuit of knowing and becoming like Jesus offers a deep relationship with God first and foremost. He is the prize now and for eternity. The transformation of our life results from seeking God first and living to know Him more. We learn to believe Him and believe He is at work in us. This is how we learn to love Him with all our heart, soul, and mind. (Matthew 22:37, Mark 12:30, and Luke 10:27)

If someone came alongside to examine your life, what crown might they say you are running to win? Why?

"Heavenly Father, during this time of Renewal, please give me the courage to wholeheartedly follow Jesus. Matthew 6:19-20 says, “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. God, help me to avoid accumulating treasures on earth. Help me invest in the eternal. In the process, as I run, remind me that the prize I am running for now and for eternity is imperishable."