Papa “J” Says

One moment while I search out the matter, this is a better answer than the one that has all the answers without giving it another thought! Proverbs 15:22-23

The Devotional

If I say to someone that I am a sailor, or that I have experience in any profession it means little. I can talk, walk and run with anyone so this ability just makes me common to mankind as the majority of us can do things normally. Yet, many others are sailors too, and so being a sailor is not unique in and of itself, so we can say that all sailors have something in common, in that they are found in the water at one time or another. Likewise, any neighbor may be heard saying. Yea, my neighbor next door, hes just like me, except he is a sailor who sails on big ocean liners, but I am a deep sea fisherman in the North Atlantic. And so it is about all things in life, yes my neighbor is just like me, the only difference is that he is more religious than I am. He goes to church all the time, I just go on Sunday. Ah! But herein is the problem. If one goes to church just on Sunday and the other is spoken of as religious because he goes all the time. We have nothing tangible at all since the statements of each of these men would be. “Yea, so in so is just like me, we both go to church!” But I would hope that my neighbor would see that I am not just like him and not because of who or what I might be, but because my neighbor sees that God is meeting my needs through the supernatural light of Christ in me. John 8:12

1 Corinthians 9

1 Corinthians 9:24-27 I am sure that we do not think of ourselves as lazy or complacent when it comes to our walking in the light of Christ. Many of us like sports and a lot of us play a sport or two. We take it serious too, I strive to be a good golfer and I play to win. Those who play a game or two with me will agree and they play to win as well. Should it be any other way? No, not in physical sports. Even though there will be a winner and a loser, both play for the prize.

Competition is good and if we look in scripture for competition we will not find it, so why then does the apostle Paul put these words like striving for a crown in the context of competition? The goal of the saint is to win the race that is set before him or her. In other words, each race is different, yours would be different than mine, but the prize is the same and each one of us should strive as a sportsperson receive it.

Whether I run or shadow box spiritually, I need to run and fight with a goal to win, many believers are simply not concerned about winning, this will be to their shame. They have no spiritual goals, they have no fight in them and in every event they come in contact with it is not long before they find themselves disqualified and the crown is lost. So if we are willing to preach to others and fail at the events of living in the light of Christ. We are nothing more than a sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. 1 Corinthians 13:2.