The Grapevine

Number 169

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 

Keep Your Eyes on the Prize

By Jack Northart

 Today’s pressures are progressively preparing people to accept a manipulative, authoritarian government. In addition, there is now a joint political effort to redistribute the wealth of the country, and there is a widespread agenda to stifle a Christian consensus in countries where it previously existed. The end result is that compassion gets replaced with utilitarianism, which is the belief that the value of something is determined by its usefulness. Freedom is replaced with chaos. Leaders of the modern world have closed their eyes to the fact that to have freedom without chaos begins with a Christian base.

 Our initial tendency as Christians may be to lash out and fight back, and do harm to those who harm us. This is not the solution.

 II Timothy 2:4-5 (NIV)

No one serving as a soldier gets involved in civilian affairs; rather, they try to please their commanding officer. Similarly, anyone who competes as an athlete does not receive the victor's crown except by competing according to the rules.

 When the pressure is on, it is not the time to break rank. That means that we don’t start to do things differently that are outside of God’s Word. The analogy of the soldier in this verse relates to not getting caught up in civilian affairs, but rather to pay attention to the commanding officer giving him orders. An athletic analogy would relate to winning the “gold medal” through obeying the rules of the game. Imagine how strange it would be if a track and field runner decided to “win” the race by cutting across the track to the finish line. Not only would he bring humiliation upon himself, but he would be ultimately disqualified. His careless actions would be exposed for all to see.

Likewise, we must continue to move and act on God’s Word as we have been taught the accuracy of it.

I Corinthians 9:24-27

Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain. 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.

I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air:

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.

Everyone who runs in a race certainly does run, but only one receives the prize. Our exhortation is to run so that we may win. Everyone who wants to win must strive for the prize by exercising self-control in all things. For example, a runner may train himself to run at a certain pace and knows exactly when to turn on the speed at the very end. However, that is not the only thing that he does to train to win. When he is not running, he must exercise self-control in all of his other habits such as eating the right amount of proteins and carbohydrates, studying running methods,  and getting enough sleep

Every aspect of winning will come back to how well he trains, twenty-four hours a day. The same can be said for those of us who seek an incorruptible crown. We read, we focus, we “train” ourselves constantly so that when we speak God’s Word to others, we aren’t rejected from the competition.

II Timothy 2:15

Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed rightly dividing the word of truth.  

We are to be diligent to present ourselves approved unto God as unashamed workers who rightly divide the Word of truth.

It is easy at times to get caught up in the affairs of this life, and to be distracted away from the simplicity of living with Christ. We may not do this voluntarily, yet it is important to keep our minds and hearts focused on God’s Word so that when these distractions come, we can deal with them and move on.

 II Corinthians 11:3

But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.

Satan is cunning. He is so cunning that he has most people in the world convinced that he does not even exist. He offers all sorts of “logical” or “viable” alternative answers to life in very subtle ways. 

If a believer buys into these endless suggestions, he has only just begun to bring more problems into his life, and it will begin to spiral downward at a more rapid pace.

 Ephesians 4:17-18

This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind, Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart.

 Those who do not know God or Jesus Christ will walk in the futility of their own minds. Without God, their mind is darkened and they are alienated from the life of God because of their own willful ignorance and hardness of heart. Our exhortation is: “Don’t walk like that!” Don’t be a willfully ignorant idiot. Don’t allow your heart to be darkened by misguided and misdirected fools who have nothing better to do than distract and divide the Christian’s mind. We shake it off and press on; keeping our eyes on the prize.

 Philippians 3:13-14

Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

 We stretch out toward the goal for the prize of the upward calling of God in Christ Jesus. This is by invitation only. God is giving us this invitation to the prize that is waiting for us. What an honor!

Suppose that it had been announced in all of the newspapers that you had won the Nobel Peace Prize, (which includes a monetary award of about $1 million), wouldn’t you act differently? Wouldn’t you expect so many things to fall into place for you now? Even though you may not have formally accepted it, you would know that it is coming to you in the future, and now your life will change completely.

 What about God’s invitation to His prize? Is it real? Yes! Is it going to be ours? Yes! Is it the best prize to beat all other prizes throughout all time? YES! It is certainly something worth stretching out to reach for and take. It makes our life so relevant and important, and challenges us to exercise self-control in order to obtain it. What a life we can have if we keep our eyes on the prize!