Friday 1 April 2016

THERE IS A PRICE TO PAY TO OBTAIN THE PRIZE 1

Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No man that warreth entangleth himself with the the affairs of this life, that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier. And if a man also strive for masteries, yet is he not crowned, except he strive lawfully. The husbandman that laboureth must be first partakers of the fruits
                         2 Timothy 2:3-6 (KJV)
Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? so run, that ye may obtain. And any 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.
                        1 Corinthians 9: 24-27(KJV)
Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let is lay aside every weight and the sin that doth easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the  author and the finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider him that endured such contradictions of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds. Ye have not yet resisted unto blood striving against sin.
                       Hebrews 12:1-4(KJV)
As children of God we must realize that we are in a race and there is a goal, a crown, a glory that awaits us and we await. The realization that there is an expectation of God concerning our lives.
God had an expectation concerning Jesus Christ when he came to the world and that was to save the world from sin, though the  process to achieve that was not palatable, but Jesus Christ stuck to it, despite the fact that he had to lay down his glory, his fame and his very life and he felt rejection from his father who had called him for the assignment when he was on the cross that he had to cry out My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? (Matthew 27:46b). He felt apart from His father and that for an  offence he didn't commit.
There is a price to pay to obtain the prize, without the payment of price there is no prize.
We desire to end our journey here on earth in glory with the father, we desire the crown of glory and the mansion that the father has prepared for us, we desire to hear  thou good and faithful servant enter thou into the joy of thy lord; all these come with a price.
Apostle Paul by the inspiration of the Holy Ghost compared us to a soldier (2 Timothy 2:4) who has been enlisted to please the one who has called him, to be enlisted in the military is not for trivial reasons, a soldier must be ready to lay down his life if that is what is required of him by his commander ; he must be ready to endure hardships, trainings, scolding and punishments so that he can stand when the time comes for him to go to war. He doesn't think or behave like a civilian. He has been specially trained.
We must realize that the same applies to us, we have been enlisted in God's army and our primary aim is to please the one who has called from darkness into his kingdom, we should no longer think and behave like unbelievers. we must not entangle ourselves with sins anymore.
For a man in the worldly military he is looking forward to a National honour and that is only a corruptible prize that could only give momentary joy or fame and yet he is ready to lay down his life for that but we are striving for something incorruptible, something that cannot be destroyed, something eternal that nothing in this world can be traded for. Money, fame, power cannot buy it, it is invaluable. The prize is sure and this means we must do much more than what a worldly soldier will do. We must be temperate in all things.
                                ...to be continued

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