Christians must Discipline their Bodies

“I discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what it should. Otherwise, I fear that after preaching to others I myself might be disqualified.” 1 Corinthians 9:27 NLT

In an article titled, "Running Influencer Apologizes for Banditing the Houston Marathon" and subtitled,"Matt Choi used someone else’s bib to complete the race, which caused outrage in the running community," published by Runner's World Tuesday, the following was reported: On January 15, running influencer Matt Choi completed the Houston Marathon in a time of 2:59:35. Even though he didn’t achieve his goal of running faster than 2:50, Choi still hit a Boston Marathon qualifying time. However, Choi’s name doesn’t appear on the results page. As it turns out, Choi never signed up for the Houston Marathon. He ran with someone else’s bib. Choi took to TikTok to clarify his behavior. He forgot to sign up for the Houston Marathon, he said, so he reached out to friends in his running community to see if someone had a bib they weren’t using. One friend who was registered for the race got injured, so he provided Choi with a bib. “As someone that’s still new in the running community, I  never heard the term ‘bib mule’ until just a few days ago,” he said, thanking Marathon Investigation for highlighting his wrongdoing. “My intent was not to qualify for another person or cheat the system—I honestly just wanted to run."

And you know, while the real owner of the bib ‘technically’ qualified for the Boston Marathon by Choi’s efforts, both of them were disqualified because they both broke the clearly defined rules. Which means all the hard work Choi put in was in vain. And that is the very reason, as Paul knew, believers must discipline their bodies "like an athlete, training it do what it should" without compromise. You see, although you and I can't lose our salvation, we can lose our privilege of telling others about Jesus Christ by displaying any behavior, like cheating, that's contrary to the rules laid out in the Bible. 

So let us make it a practice to study the Bible each and every day my friend. This discipline will ensure we are running the race according to the rules laid out in the Word and will not be disqualified from the special right (and believe me it's a priceless privilege) of sharing the Good News with others and seeing the lost saved because of it. 

Heavenly Father, thank You for reminding us that there is no greater honor in this world than sharing You with others. Give us a passion for growing in Knowledge Lord so that we would preach Truth without compromise and be able to withstand the temptation to break the rules. Remind us that the stakes are high and we must run in such a way that our efforts will not be in vain. It's in your precious name we pray Jesus. Amen. 

Happy Running!