Running a race is a very individual experience. Even if we run with friends or people we know, we are the ones who are responsible for performing in a race well. We have to put in the practice, eat well, and make sure that we hydrate. We have to motivate ourselves to keep going when we want to quit. Although running races may seem like a solo sport, running the spiritual race that God has set before us is certainly not an individual experience. God Himself is running the race with us and will see to it that we finish our race, even when we feel like giving up.
Paul understood that God does not leave us alone to run the spiritual race that He has set before us, and he encouraged the church of Philippi with this truth in the book of Philippians. He wrote to the church of Philippi in Philippians 1, “Every time I think of you, I give thanks to my God. Whenever I pray, I make my requests for all of you with joy, for you have been my partners in spreading the Good News about Christ from the time you first heard it until now” (verses 3-5). Paul was grateful for the race that the church of Philippi had been running. They had consistently partnered together with Paul to spread the hope of Christ. They had honored God by the way they had spread His message. Paul encouraged them that they were not on their own in their endeavors to spread Christ’s message as he continued writing to the church of Philippi, saying, “And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue His work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns” (verse 6). God is the one completing the work within us! This is the greatest news. Even more, He will complete the good work that began in us. The work He started in us will not stop or fade away. He will do the work in us.
Praise God that we are not left alone to run our spiritual race. As we pursue Christ and His kingdom and seek to know Him and make Him known, He is working within us. He will carry the work He started in us when we first placed our faith in Him. Take heart, my friend; you are not alone in your pursuit of Christ and His kingdom. He is with you every step of the way. He will not leave you alone, and He will ensure that the work He started in you is completed.
God's presence and promise that He will carry out the work He began in us to completion are a gift. They remind us to keep going and never give up. Make plans to praise and thank God for His continued work in our lives at one of our services this weekend. He is so good and worthy of our praise!
1This letter is from Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ.
I am writing to God’s chosen people who are living as foreigners in the provinces of Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia. 2 God the Father knew you and chose you long ago, and his Spirit has made you holy. As a result, you have obeyed him and have been cleansed by the blood of Jesus Christ.
May God give you more and more grace and peace.
3 All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is by his great mercy that we have been born again, because God raised Jesus Christ from the dead. Now we live with great expectation, 4 and we have a priceless inheritance—an inheritance that is kept in heaven for you, pure and undefiled, beyond the reach of change and decay. 5 And through your faith, God is protecting you by his power until you receive this salvation, which is ready to be revealed on the last day for all to see.
6 So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you must endure many trials for a little while. 7 These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold—though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world.
8 You love him even though you have never seen him. Though you do not see him now, you trust him; and you rejoice with a glorious, inexpressible joy. 9 The reward for trusting him will be the salvation of your souls.
10 This salvation was something even the prophets wanted to know more about when they prophesied about this gracious salvation prepared for you. 11 They wondered what time or situation the Spirit of Christ within them was talking about when he told them in advance about Christ’s suffering and his great glory afterward.
12 They were told that their messages were not for themselves, but for you. And now this Good News has been announced to you by those who preached in the power of the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. It is all so wonderful that even the angels are eagerly watching these things happen.
13 So prepare your minds for action and exercise self-control. Put all your hope in the gracious salvation that will come to you when Jesus Christ is revealed to the world. 14 So you must live as God’s obedient children. Don’t slip back into your old ways of living to satisfy your own desires. You didn’t know any better then. 15 But now you must be holy in everything you do, just as God who chose you is holy. 16 For the Scriptures say, “You must be holy because I am holy.”[c]
17 And remember that the heavenly Father to whom you pray has no favorites. He will judge or reward you according to what you do. So you must live in reverent fear of him during your time here as “temporary residents.” 18 For you know that God paid a ransom to save you from the empty life you inherited from your ancestors. And it was not paid with mere gold or silver, which lose their value. 19 It was the precious blood of Christ, the sinless, spotless Lamb of God. 20 God chose him as your ransom long before the world began, but now in these last days he has been revealed for your sake.
21 Through Christ you have come to trust in God. And you have placed your faith and hope in God because he raised Christ from the dead and gave him great glory.
