1 Corinthians 9:24 (NIV®)
Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize.
As the new year approaches, we can look back over 2024 at all the blessings we received. We can see the challenges we overcame. We can see the failures that we’d rather not think about. Good, bad or tough, all of those things, and our responses to them, have made us who we are today.
This brings me to my primary thought of late. What do I want to look back and see when I roll into 2026 and beyond? I say “and beyond” because sometimes we take on endeavors that will take a while to achieve. Do you have any of those? Are you open to God giving you a vision for something like that? Something that will require sacrifice, determination and a lot of work? If you are, then take some time today and tomorrow to ask Him what His goal is for you this next year. Settle in to what that is, and make a plan for how you will achieve it.
We can still work on those “normal” things like exercising and eating better, becoming financially stable and good family relations, but what we really want and need is to have God’s perspective on who we are and what He wants to do in our lives.
Later in the same chapter, writing to the Corinthians, Paul talks about bringing his own body under the subjection of Christ. He talks about there being one prize. He talks about doing whatever he needs to do to gain that prize. Let’s be just as determined. Let’s accept the vision given us from the Lord and commit to do what it takes to be ready, available and prepared for what The Lord wants to do in and through us.
So, as we approach the new year, I want to encourage you to re-establish and reinforce your priorities toward God. Find out what He wants of you in this new year and make that your aim. Include Him in any resolution decisions. You don’t want to come to the end of next year with regret that you didn’t work toward something that really matters. There are so many good things that we can put our hand to, but let’s find the best things… the things that move us closer to the final and best prize in Christ. If we do that, I believe we’ll be pleased with what we achieve, and at the end of our journey we just may win the prize.
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