All's Well That Ends Well

Today's Takeaway // To finish well, we need to start well and run well.

“Don’t you know that the runners in a stadium all race, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way to win the prize.”
– 1 Corinthians 9:24 (HCSB)

“Let us run with endurance the race that lies before us.”
– Hebrews 12:1b (HCSB)

“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.”
– 2 Timothy 4:7 (HCSB)

“I am a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city. I studied under Gamaliel and was thoroughly trained in the law of our ancestors. I was just as zealous for God as any of you are today.”
– Acts 22:3 (HCSB)

“Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord. He went to the high priest and requested letters from him to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any men or women who belonged to the Way, he might bring them as prisoners to Jerusalem.”
– Acts 9:1-2 (HCSB)

“As he traveled and was nearing Damascus, a light from heaven suddenly flashed around him. Falling to the ground, he heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?” “Who are You, Lord?” he said. “I am Jesus, the One you are persecuting,” He replied. “But get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”
– Acts 9:3-6 (HCSB)

"In reality, completing a marathon is not the impressive part (although it is the glorified part). Effectively training for a marathon is really what's impressive—and that end of things often goes unseen. Completing a marathon is also a way to socially signal one's traits on dedication, discipline and time management—all required for getting through a successful race. You want people who are diligent, you want people who are hardworking, you want people who are gonna... 'go the extra mile.' Marathon finishers fit all those details in a very profound way.”
– Glenn Geher, ABC News, Why Run a Marathon

“Five times I received 39 lashes from Jews. Three times I was beaten with rods by the Romans. Once I was stoned by my enemies. Three times I was shipwrecked. I have spent a night and a day in the open sea. On frequent journeys, I faced dangers from rivers, dangers from robbers, dangers from my own people, dangers from the Gentiles, dangers in the city, dangers in the open country, dangers on the sea, and dangers among false brothers; labor and hardship, many sleepless nights, hunger and thirst, often without food, cold, and lacking clothing. Not to mention other things, there is the daily pressure on me: my care for all the churches.”
– 2 Corinthians 11:24-28 (HCSB)

Don’t you know that the runners in a stadium all race, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way to win the prize. Now everyone who competes exercises self-control in everything. However, they do it to receive a crown that will fade away, but we a crown that will never fade away. Therefore I do not run like one who runs aimlessly or box like one beating the air. Instead, I discipline my body and bring it under strict control, so that after preaching to others, I myself will not be disqualified.”
– 1 Corinthians 9:24-27 (HCSB)

“Brothers, I do not consider myself to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and reaching forward to what is ahead, I pursue as my goal the prize promised by God’s heavenly call in Christ Jesus.” – Philippians 3:13-14 (HCSB)

Therefore, since we also have such a large cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us lay aside every weight and the sin that so easily ensnares us. Let us run with endurance the race that lies before us, keeping our eyes on Jesus, the Source and Perfecter of our faith.”
– Hebrews 12:1-2a (HSCB)

“Let us run with endurance the race that lies before us.”
– Hebrews 12:1b 9HSCB)

“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.”
– 2 Timothy 4:7 (CSB)

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