1909 287 "Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain. … I therefore so run, not as uncertainly." These are weighty words from the pen of the inspired apostle of the Gentiles, and may well afford solid food for our soul's meditation. Self-denial and earnestness alike characterised this beloved servant of God, and it need scarcely be said that, in order to run well, the true pilgrim, like the true soldier, needs strength. The question of how to obtain this strength is therefore of the deepest moment, and scripture, in at least three different ways, provides a complete answer.
The life we now possess, as believers in a risen Christ, needs to be sustained as we press forward in that heavenly race where human effort, not only counts for nothing, but would be a positive hindrance to the true pilgrim. The Holy Ghost has come down from a glorified Christ as the indwelling and abiding Spirit of power for each believer, yet none the less it is interesting to notice that God's word, continual prayer, and a heavenly Christ to attract the heart, furnish a threefold cord of divine strength for the journey, and provide sinews for the race that can never fail.
The Psalmist could say, "Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path." "Strengthen thou me according to thy word." "I will run the way of thy commandments, when thou shalt enlarge my heart." Jeremiah takes up the strain and says, "Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of my heart." In this connection the waiting attitude of the prophet Habakkuk, amidst the gross corruptions and idolatry of his day, is worthy of note. Confiding in God alone, he stands like a sentinel, yea, as a ready listener, to hear what God has to say — "I will stand upon my watch, and set me upon the tower; and will watch to see what he will say unto me, and what I shall answer when I am reproved." The vision might tarry, and he might have to wait for its fulfilment, but meanwhile the prophet's soul is strengthened by faith in God's word. While he was waiting in patience for the promised deliverance, Jehovah answered and said, "Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it."* Strength for running would thus most assuredly be found in reading God's word, while meditation thereon would be as marrow to his bones, and his loins would be girt about with truth. Whatever might come, the prophet finally exclaims, in the confidence of faith, "The Lord God is my strength; and he will make my feet like hinds' feet, and he will make me to walk upon my high places."
{*These words are frequently misquoted as "that he that runs may read," whereas what the verse really says is "that he that reads may run."}
If God's word thus gives strength for the journey, earnest and believing prayer is no less important, for "they that wait upon the Lord shall change their strength (see margin); they shall mount up with wings as eagles, they shall run and not be weary, and they shall walk and not faint." What an interesting proof of this is seen on mount Carmel in Elijah's day! In answer to prayer, God had already fully rewarded the prophet's faith and courage by sending fire from heaven which "consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench. The victory over the prophets of Baal was complete, but no spirit of boasting marks God's faithful servant. For three and a half years previously the heavens had given no rain, in answer to Elijah's earnest entreaty, but now that God's authority was both proved and owned, the prophet simply says to Ahab, "Get thee up, eat and drink, for there is a sound of abundance of rain." But Elijah is once more on his knees, and in due course, in answer to continual prayer, the tiny cloud, no bigger than a man's hand, rises out of the sea, and the warning message is sent to Ahab to prepare his chariot lest the rain should stop him. Meanwhile, the dark clouds gather fast, the rain falls in torrents, and Ahab rides in his chariot. Not so Elijah; he needs no human help; he has "changed his strength" in prayer, and with the Lord's hand upon him he runs with girded loins, and in God's strength gets to Jezreel before the king. Prayer has strengthened his sinews for the race; 'tis thus he runs, and God is glorified. Scripture is full of many similar instances, yet is there still a further source of strength for the believing runner, and it is always found when the eye of faith rests only on an unseen but glorified Christ.
In the Epistle to the Hebrews we have the hortatory words of the great apostle, "Let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking off unto Jesus, the author and finisher of faith, who, for the joy that was set before him, endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God." What a divine object is here presented to our souls' vision, and what a powerful magnet to attract our hearts from all earth's fading scenes! Our great "Forerunner" has trodden the pathway first, and faith delights to follow in His holy footprints, who has not only shown us how to run, but also the way He trod. He who while here below as the dependent Man ever found His resources in God, having run the race, from first to last, to the glory of God, has taken His seat in triumph on God's throne, and in His own person has become the divine object to attract our hearts heavenward. Just as our eyes undistractedly gaze on that heavenly Overcomer, where He now is, so shall we gather both patience and strength for the homeward race. It is the attractive power, grace and glory of Christ's person that lends strength to our girded loins. Thus it was with Paul, who could say, he did "not run uncertainly." His eyes, like Stephen's, gazed stedfastly upward to the Man in the glory of God, and his words may well find a place in our hearts today, "This one thing I do; forgetting the things that are behind, and reaching forth unto those things that are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded; and, if in anything ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you."
Remembering all these precious truths, may grace be given us, not only to hide them in our hearts, but practically to prove their sweet reality each day to the praise of God's glory! S.T.