EFFECTIVE PURSUIT OF PURPOSE

“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.” – 1 Corinthians 9:24

Perfecting Purpose in destiny is hinged on EFFECTIVE PURSUIT of PURPOSE: “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” (1Cor.9:24). To passionately pursue Purpose is to have a drive for your dream, to run with your vision without relenting, and to go vigorously for your goal. Pursuit adds value to purpose. The focus, strength, vitality and vibrancy in your pursuit reveals the Value of your purpose. You must be committed to mobilising all of your God-endowed resources in the pursuit of your God-given purpose.

Many people lack the energy and enthusiasm for pursuit simply because they either have not discovered or do not believe in their purpose. They are easily distracted into trivial pursuits and futile ventures, and end up in doldrums. Pursuit of purpose demands that you be selective in what you engage your resources of time, talents and treasures in. The wise man said: “Do you see a man who excels in his work? He will stand before kings; he will not stand before unknown men” (Pro.22:29). Don't fill your time with trivial and mundane quests that are tangential to your purpose – your reason for being!

History is filled with tragic tales of people who lived to pursue and accumulate temporal riches but ended in ruins; and others who pursued sensual pleasures, transient power, and vain popularity, but reaped the harvest of pains! Divine Purpose is what to pursue – the specific set of assignments that your Maker sent and ‘gifted’ you to accomplish on earth. As you set your face like a flint to pursue purpose, the required resources – the Pro-visions – whether these be contacts, connections, relationships, riches, wealth, power, popularity, or even pressures, will come with the pursuit of purpose!

Let’s learn from Paul, the apostle. In our meditation text, Paul focuses on how to run effectively in life’s race, striving for the Crown. In verses 24-27, Paul described the Christian experience in terms of an athletic event, an analogy the Corinthians could relate to. The Greeks had two great athletic festivals, the Olympic games and the Isthmian games. The latter were held at Corinth and therefore intimately familiar to Paul’s audience. Contestants in the games had to prove rigorous training for ten months. The last month was spent at Corinth, with supervised daily workouts in the gymnasium and athletic fields.

Verse 24 illustrates the dedication of the runners: “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.”

Verse 25 describes the discipline of the runners: “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.”

Verse 26 portrays the deliberation of the runners: “Therefore I run thus: not with uncertainty. Thus I fight: not as one who beats the air.”

Verse 27 referred to the disqualifying of the runners: “But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified.”

Paul’s desire was to be victorious in the Christian race. He wrote in Philippians 3 of pursuing purpose to win Christ: “I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus” (Phi. 3:14). Here we find great encouragement to pursue persistently, diligently, and vigorously, with dedication and discipline. There is room for all to get the prize. You cannot fail if you run well.

Beloved, receive the grace to effectively pursue and press toward the mark for the prize of purpose – your high calling in Christ Jesus. Our God can never be stranded, and we who believe in His Son Jesus Christ shall never be truncated in the journey of destiny, until we reach the finishing line, and breast the tape to receive imperishable crowns of glory.