THE PRIZE
Growing up in St. Petersburg, Florida where my father was a building inspector, in both the city and Pinellas County in the 40’s and 50’s was exciting. The county’s population in 1940 was 91,852. According to the 2013 census report it is now 921,319. The beginning of this massive growth started around 1946 as ex military personnel moved to the sunny south. Developers came into his office, purchasing permits, with layouts of subdivisions consisting of 400 homes or more. The post war expansion was explosive and the economy was booming. How do I know his territory expanded outside the city limits? Well, wild animals weren’t allowed to be pets in the city and Dad came home one day with a grin on his face. He said, “Today I had to inspect a building that had an 18 foot high doorway.” We looked at each other and knew it couldn’t be for a man. Goliath was estimated to be around 9 ½ foot tall and the doorway was double that. After guessing a while, he told us it was for the Wild Animal Ranch expansion at the edge of the county. By now you might have figured it out, it was for a new tenant, a giraffe. In the years after World War II and up into the sixties, there were no Interstate Highways in Florida and no Turnpikes. Due to these modern changes, the Wild Animal Ranch, among other early attractions, was done away with and the world I grew up in as a kid is but a distant memory.
For a number of years the State of Florida was doing a fantastic job continuing to recruit people from all over the country to move to this tropical area. Each one that stopped at the State line received a free glass of orange juice and a handful of brochures promoting a variety of events and places to go. Due to the growth of Pinellas County and the hard work required from all the county employees, the administration put on an annual Thanksgiving event to recognize these workers. It was just prior to Thanksgiving Day and many were acknowledged for their part in making this Sunshine State a success.
At the event county employees were handed a ticket about the size and quality of a 3 x 5 card. He or she was to put their name, address and telephone number on the card and return it to an usher who turned them in. At the end of the ceremony these cards were put in a big round drum with a crank, rotated several times, and then names were drawn. One by one each one was hoping their name would be mentioned. If called, the employee would run up to the stage to collect their prize which was usually a turkey, ham, food item, or a gift certificate. Each year our family attended, but Dad’s name was never called. One year when filling out the card, he said, “This time we are going to win something.” When finished writing, he crumbled it up, and straightened it again before turning it in. His theory was that all the others turned in nice neat cards and they just stuck together in the drum. By making his ticket rough, he felt we would increase the odds of winning since it would stand out from the rest. Sure enough it worked and we took home a beautiful large turkey, big enough to feed our family, and some guests.
Have you ever though of ways you could increase your odds in the Christian life? Oh, I don’t mean trying to get Jesus to love you more. He has already shown you how much He loves you by giving His life on the cross. Romans 5:8, “God demonstrated His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 2:11 tells us, “For there is no partiality with God.” He loves each of us equally. It’s not His love I’m talking about. How about your inner peace? Do you think someone’s odds could be increased, in their peace with Him, by reading the Bible each day and listening to what the Holy Spirit is teaching them compared to someone that rarely opens up the Scriptures? What about someone who is involved in some type of ministry serving others as opposed to someone who is content to sit on the sidelines and watch? In both of those examples, wouldn’t the one who is more active increase their odds for a deeper inner peace?
The Apostle Paul was zealous and I’m sure had that inner peace in spite of the suffering and obstacles he went though. He didn’t just occasionally attend a church service or only give a minimal amount of his time. He was right in the middle of things. He was a leader to those back in his time, as well as, to those who read about and follow his life today. His focus was on the PRIZE; the PRIZE? Yes, Paul not only was looking forward to the PRIZE, but wants us to do the same. 1Corinthians 9:24- 27, “Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the PRIZE? Run in such a way that you may obtain it. And everyone who competes for the PRIZE is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown. Therefore I run thus, not with uncertainty. Thus I fight: not as one who beats the air. But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified.”
Paul continues this thought in Philippians 3:13 and 14, “Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the PRIZE of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” Paul had a goal and he knew what it took to get there. What kind of goals do you have for your future destiny? Is it possible that this world with all its glitter and attractions has kept you from making a long range goal and striving for the PRIZE that awaits you in heaven?
If Jesus allowed Paul’s feelings to be placed in the Scripture for us to read and be challenged by, do you think it’s possible that the Lord Himself has goals and is looking forward to a PRIZE? You may be thinking, hold on a minute, God created and owns everything, what could He possibly want that He doesn’t already have? That’s a legitimate question, but let’s analyze the Scriptures more closely and see if that question can be answered.
Yes, Jesus was around from the beginning. In fact He had no beginning. Revelation 1:8,22:13, “I am the Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End.” He came to earth to die for us and give us the hope of eternal life. Prior to His human form, He existed. In John 8:58, the Scriptures tell us, Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM.” He didn’t use the word I was. He wasn’t born like us. He always was. Genesis 1:26 tells us, God said, “Let Us make man in our own image.” The ‘Us’ in that verse is God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. In our own image means, we posses some qualities of God, here on this earth, and will receive more when we get to heaven. We will never be completely like Him, but we have some similarities. We are emotional (we can feel, experience), we are purposeful (We have meaning, mission, a calling). We are moral (know right from wrong and able to choose). We will live forever (either with Christ or without Him). Yes, we will die in this earthly body, but our souls and new bodies are immortal. We have also been given a free will.
Since we have a free will, that gift can be a problem. Our very nature is bent on doing wrong, rather than right. We would rather do things our own way rather than to follow God’s will. God exercised His will by casting Lucifer from Heaven. The reason He did was because of Lucifer’s pride. Isaiah 14: 12-21 tells us the story. Over and over in those verses, Lucifer, that we refer to as Satan, said, “I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation on the farthest sides of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.” Pride was his downfall and so it is with us many times. Sin is a three letter word with I in the middle. We can’t have the Lord on the throne of our life and keep ourselves there at the same time. So there is still a battle going on today between good and evil; between Christ, the risen Savior, and Satan His foe. Satan is doing all he can to discredit Jesus Christ, and yet He, the Lord, is using many methods to win our hearts. In addition to being cast from Heaven, Satan is doing all he can to get us distracted from a fruitful, content and peaceful life. Although Satan can’t do anything that God doesn’t allow him to, I john 5:19 tells us, “We know that we are of God, and the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one.”
A passage that shows the battle more intensely is found in 2 Corinthians 4: 3-6, “But even if our gospel be veiled, it is veiled to those that are perishing, whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them.” You see Satan wants to suppress this truth and it’s up to Bible believing Christians to reveal this truth. Now back to God’s PRIZE. He knows everything from the beginning to the end; yet He is waiting for His PRIZE. Any idea what that might be? It’s you and me, just human beings; it’s believers that have placed their trust in Him. He is waiting for that last soul to trust Christ and then He will take us to heaven. Think of it, sometimes we don’t even get along well with family members and friends, why in the world would He want us? That’s a good question. He cared enough to die for us and He wants us to dwell with Him in heaven. He knows when the time is right; we will be taken to be with Him where we will have a changed glorified body. There will be no more sin. It will be a perfect environment.
John 14:1-3, “Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In my Fathers house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto Myself; that where I am, there you maybe also.” He is also looking for sin to be done away with. 1Corinthians 15: 50 – 56 shows us our final victory and how we will be changed. Starting with verse 54, “So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: Death is swallowed up in victory.” “Oh death where is your sting? oh Hades, where is your victory?” The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. But Thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
You see, if He thinks we are His PRIZE, shouldn’t we want Him to be our PRIZE? Are we going to listen to Satan, the deceiver of all time, and settle for very little the world has to offer? Wouldn’t we be better off to realize this life is just temporal and place our trust in the One who created all things and has a home prepared for us in an eternal place that lasts forever? It’s my prayer that you will consider His offer and trust Him as your personal Lord and Savior. Then come visit us at Gateway Baptist Church where you can learn and grow more in the knowledge of Jesus Christ.