So, I think everyone comes to a point in his/her life while watching a reality tv show, where he/she think: “Why not me?” and considers the possibility – maybe even looks at an application – of winning such a show.
I had one of those moments today.
I was watching the tv show MasterChef. lol…yeah, another food show. Anyway, I was watching this show, and there’s a 22-yr old, absolutely gorgeous, Southern girl on there by the name of Whitney. She’s my age!! (…. whatever, I’ve only been 23 for a week now.) There she is, cooking for Gordon Ramsay and for the possibility of $250,000 her own cookbook, and the title of the first MasterChef of the United States of America. How sweet is that?!
But as I was thinking, the show that was on my mind was Hell’s Kitchen. That’s so intense. It’s months of hard teamwork, dedication, living and eating and sleeping food!! Aaaahhh!!!! I mean, I have been told I eat, sleep, and think about not much else, but wow…. to have unlimited food/resources to cook with … how amazing.
Ok, I’m done drooling over the possibilities. I found myself having another thought, as I day-dreamed about being apart of Hell’s Kitchen. What if I won??? I wouldn’t want to go off and be a chef at some huge hotel in Vegas or move to Paris to be the head chef of one of Gordon Ramsay’s new restaurants there. I actually found myself saying, “if only I could cook without having to worry about the prize.”
So, there. That’s the reason. That’s the reason I don’t apply for these shows. I don’t want the prize. I don’t desire to go through all that intense stress and emotion and hard work because I just don’t want the prize that much.
Stop.
Let’s take a look at what the Apostle Paul says about the Christian life.
1 Corinthians 9:24 says:
Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it.
Wow. I suddenly understand this passage so much better. If you want the prize, you’ll run the race; but if you’re not too keen on what you’re fighting for, you’re not going to last!
What a conviction! I am where I am in my faith and in my race before the Lord because of how much I want the prize!!!
……
I just want to take a moment and let that soak in. My passion for the prize determines my determination and dedication. My passion for the prize determines how well I run!
Is that a simple concept that everyone else has gotten and I’m just behind on the 8-ball?? I think not. I think that it just takes some personal application sometimes to give us a new perspective on the truths we know. There comes a point in our lives when the knowledge we know in our minds must travel those 12 inches down to the heart. It’s only once that has happened that the Truth of the Word really begins to affect the life of the believer.
Wow. …. deep breath. Smile.
I feel like Paul here. I want to use a “therefore”. 🙂 So, here we go:
Where do we go from here? What does this knowledge of how our love for the prize affects our run mean to us as believers? Let’s look at Hebrews 12:1-3:
Therefore, … let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
Bam! These verses are so alive to me today, as I have this new understanding of this race and the prize! What an inspiration!
So, here I am. I’m not working desperately in a kitchen against 16 other contestants for the position of head chef at a million-dollar restaurant. I’m not even fighting for my own cookbook (although tempting for sure). I’m fighting an eternal fight, I’m racing an eternal race.
What’s holding me back?
Is it my pride? Is it unforgiveness? Is it selfishness—am I self-consumed? Or is it just short-sightedness? Have I forgotten this is a marathon and not a 100-meter dash? What is it that holds me back from being all that I can be–should be–need to be in my race towards the eternal prize??
What about you? What’s holding you back? ….. or have you lost sight of the prize? Do you even want it anymore?
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Picture used courtesy of BBC: Picture Link
Making My Boast 
