There are a number of verses that compares our pursuit of God to a race. Several of these show us how we ought to run. My attempt is to put these text together so that we can run in such a way as not without aim (1Cor. 9:26). Nothing that I write is new [and those who walk in the truth will immediately recognise that everything that God does remains forever. There is nothing to add to it and there is nothing to take from it, for God has so worked that men should be in awe before Him (Eccl. 3:14)]. By putting together the various verses that compares our pursuit of God to a race, my hope is that it will quickly remind us of that which we already know; so as to pursue God the way we ought.
The first thing we all must know is that if anyone competes as an athlete, he does not win the prize unless he competes according to the rules (2Tim. 2:5). This is a critical beginning to any race. In much the same way, our pursuit of God also has set rules given by Yahweh Himself. These are contained in the 66 books of the Holy Bible. Through His laws and ordinances and commands He has clearly made known the way we ought to live (Deut. 30:15-20). All one has to do is carefully read the Word with a sincere desire to obey it. The living Word Himself gives understanding.
Some ‘rules’ in our pursuit of God are already known to us [I write to those who have believed in the Lord Yeshua and have made Him not only their Saviour but also their Lord]. These rules include knowing that no one can come to the Father except through the Messiah Yeshua (Jn. 14:6). It includes recognizing that without faith it is impossible to please God (Heb. 11:6). It includes living a life that is holy (or set apart exclusively for God) and righteous; knowing that we are made a new creation in Yeshua the Messiah (Eph. 4:24). These expectations from the Father are the foundation to pursuing Him.
There are more ‘rules’ in this race however [I do not like using the word ‘rules’ but am doing so only because of the context of 2Timothy 2:5]. In our sincere desire to love God and do all that pleases Him we soon come to realise that we have ignored so many simple, basic instructions that our Father has given in love. We then come across people having so many interpretations and counter-interpretations to the same portions of scripture that is read. The father of lies has only compounded the existing confusion by trying to further obfuscate the truth. Yet, thanks be to Yahweh, the truth has continued to prevail down through the ages and though the devil appears to have succeeded in hiding the truth from many, the living Word has ensured that the truth is never lost. Instead He quietly discloses it to the seeking heart that is set on Him with devoted love.
I deliberately use the word “truth” and contrast it because just as in the days of Yeshua, when He lived on the earth, today too the truth is mixed with deviations of God’s commands brought about by the traditions of men. This was one of the chief things that Yeshua kept admonishing the Pharisees for. He said, “Rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written: ‘This people honours Me with their lips, but their heart is far away from Me. But in vain do they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the precepts of men.’ Neglecting the commandment of God, you hold to the tradition of men.” He was also saying to them, “You are experts at setting aside the commandment of God in order to keep your tradition (Mk. 7:6-9). While they sat on the seat of Moses and read from the Holy Scriptures, they mixed that pure word with the traditions and precepts of men (Mt. 23:2-3). In the same way, today too, the pure word of God is mixed with the customs and traditions of men.
For example, God commands us to keep the Sabbath as a day separated as holy and doing no work (Ex. 20:8-11; Deut. 31:13). The devil has deceitfully got evil men who pretended to be ‘servants of God’ to come up with edicts that made Sunday the day of rest. We only need to look at the history of how Sunday came to be recognised [especially the edicts that proceeded from wolves in sheep clothing in the 5th century] and we will immediately see how they nullified God’s Word. Yet Christians [I too was once among them] have blindly accepted what was passed down the centuries without testing it against the truth that is found in the word of God. Pagan festivals such as Christmas and Easter have crept in by those who perverted the truth of God and exchanged it for a lie; and today Christians glibly practice them without recognising that these pagan feasts are not only far from the truth but they have been created to deceitfully blind men from recognising God’s “appointed days” that He has so clearly commanded us to observe [Read Leviticus 23].
In the race that is set before us, we must be careful therefore to run according to the truth that is found in the whole Word of God and test if the practices advocated by those at the pulpit have been subtly mixed with the pure truth that is found in the word of God. Let us beware of those who use portions of Scripture [particularly all the promises of God which are found in the Old Testament] and ignore the commands that are found in the same books. Such selective cherry-picking will be judged by the Righteous One at the appropriate time. But if we truly love God and desire to submit to all of His will without letting our reason interpret the commands of the Holy One, Yahweh Himself will direct our path (Prov. 3:5-6). Let us therefore with single-minded devotion love Him and do all His will without fear of men.
The next thing we learn about the race is to run with endurance (Heb. 12:1). It is so easy to tire, grow weary (Gal. 6:9) or get discouraged (Lk. 18:1). Yet Scripture has repeatedly warned us that if we lose heart, God will not be pleased with us (Heb. 10:38). The same verse in Hebrews 12 also warns us to be careful that we are not slowed down or encumbered by every weight and the sin which can so easily entangle us (Heb. 12:1). The child of God knows that he has been called no longer to live for himself but for Him who died and rose again on his behalf (2Cor. 5:15). The man of God knows that like Paul, it is no longer he that should live [with all its lusts and desires] but that the Messiah must live in and through him; and the life that he lives he must live by complete trust and faith in total dependence on his Saviour (Gal. 2:20). Walking in righteousness—constantly desiring and living to always do all that pleases God—and with perseverance are key elements in the race that is set before us. Let us never lose sight of it.
The third aspect of the race that the Bible talks about involves discipline. Paul writes, “Now every athlete in training submits himself to strict discipline, and he does it just to win a laurel wreath that will soon wither away. But we do it to win a crown that will last forever” (1Cor. 9:25). He then illustrates further by showing us what he personally does. He says, “I don’t run aimlessly but straight for the finish line; I don’t shadow-box but try to make every punch count. I treat my body hard and make it my slave so that, after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified” (1Cor. 9:26-27). The verses that immediately follow makes it clear that the Apostle is not talking of physical boxing, or physically treating his body hard [like some ascetics believe]. Rather Paul recognises that just as Israel was guided by the pillar of cloud in the wilderness; and walked through the parted waters of the Red Sea; and ate the manna that fell from heaven; we too, in Yeshua, have been baptised in the cloud and the sea and are eating the same spiritual food that they ate. Yet just as many of them perished in the wilderness because of their constant grumbling and disobedience (1Cor. 10:5-11), we also may lose out on the rest that God has prepared for us to enter into (Heb. 4:11).
With regard to this discipline that we must have in the race that is set before us, the Apostle says to Timothy that “no soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life, so that he may please the one who enlisted him as a soldier” (2Tim. 2:4). John says in his letter that “if anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him” (1Jn. 2:15). James is more blunt calling such who serve two masters (Mt. 6:24), “adulteresses” (Jas. 4:4). It becomes imperative therefore in the race that is set before us to run in such a way as not beating the air. There must be a single-minded focus on the things which are above where the Messiah is seated and not on the things of the earth (Col. 3:2).
This aspect of running the race with an undistracted devotion to Yeshua, the Messiah is beautifully described in three terms that Paul uses when he talks about his desire to know the Messiah. For after he says that he counts all the physical attributes that are seen as ‘great’ in the eyes of the world as “dung or rubbish” (Php. 3:8) he then tells us: “I press on”; “I reach out” and “I lay hold of”. In the race that is set before us, we must “keep pursuing the goal in order to win the prize offered by God’s upward calling in the Messiah Yeshua” (Php. 3:14). We must reach forward towards what lies ahead (Php. 3:13); and we must lay hold of that for which also we were laid hold of by the Messiah Yeshua (Php. 3:12).
It would be important for me to state here that our running the race would be a vain exercise if in the course of our race, we do not bear fruit. If the life of Yeshua is not seen in us in the way we speak and behave, it is quite likely that at the end of the race we may find our Master say, “I do not know you” (Mt. 24:12) just as He did to the five foolish virgins who did not have any oil in their flasks. If gentleness and kindness and patience and the other fruits of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22) cannot be seen in me then all my tom-tomming about running by the rules would be nothing short of a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal (1Cor. 13:1). If I do not have love, it profits me nothing. My race is in vain. It would be like running in such a way as without aim and as one beating the air (1Cor. 9:26).
Finally, the race that is set before us as we pursue God is meant for us to complete (2Tim. 4:7). This speaks of a relationship with God that must be sustained until the very end. This is why Jude extols the sustaining hand of Yahweh that is able to keep us from faltering saying: “Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy; To God our Savior, who alone is wise, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and forever” (Jude 24-25). Oh how we need the strength of the Most High to walk and not grow weary; to run and not faint (Isa. 40:31). Knowing that in this life there will be many troubles (Jn. 16:33) we must ask God—who commanded Joshua: “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go” (Jos. 1:9)—to keep us strong and very courageous to love Him and fearlessly stand with the truth, even if it means to stand alone. No athlete competes in a race only to leave it incomplete. We too must “finish the course” that is set before us. Behold He says, “In a very little while, He who is coming will come, and will not delay. But My righteous one shall live by faith; and if he shrinks back, My soul has no pleasure in him” (Heb. 10:37-38). May God help us so that we do not shrink back to destruction, but are like those who have faith to the preserving of the soul (Heb. 10:39); for in the end, “there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing” (2Tim. 4:7-8).
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